Speaking to the Advertiser, Meijer said he was at his parents’ house in Turton Street, Boksburg West, on Sunday, May 22, when he noticed dark smoke emanating from one of the houses in the street.
Initially, he thought someone was burning something, but after thorough investigation, he realised that the wooden Wendy House in his neighbour’s yard was engulfed by fire.
The flames were, at the time, racing toward the nearby flat and a house, apparently driven by winds.
Upon entering the yard, he came face-to-face with the wall of flames, which had already swallowed the wooden structure.
The roof of the flat was also partially ablaze.
Armed with an empty 20-litre paint bucket, Meijer battled the flames with the swimming pool water, focusing on what he could save, including the flat and a nearby house.
Meijer said he was almost overcome by the smoke, but did not give up the battle.
The impromptu fireman laboured until the fire was almost 99 per cent extinguished.
He managed to prevent the inferno from incinerating the flat and descending on the nearby house and beyond.
“When the fire engines arrived the fire was almost extinguished,” he said.
Meijer admitted that the ordeal was frightening, as the wind blew fiery embers around him, with smoke whooshing through the area – but he never considered fleeing.
“Leaving wasn’t an option – my instinct told me that somebody had to protect this property,” he said.
In retrospect, Meijer can see just how dangerous it was to face the fire, but he doesn’t regret fighting it to save his neighbour’s property.
“I just feel like I did what I had to do. The firefighters were not there at that time and the property surely would have been destroyed if I didn’t take the risk,” he explained.
Some might call the Meijer crazy for risking his life to save property, but the property owner, Gerhard Byleveld, considers him a hero.
Gerhard thanked Meijer 1 000 times when he returned to his unburned house, partially burnt flat and incinerated, wooden Wendy House, later in the day.
The victory is, however, bittersweet, as Meijer was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene after the ordeal.
It is also understood that, though his actions saved the house and part of the flat from total destruction, the flat suffered partial damage.
The windows, roof, plumbing and wiring were damaged to the estimated tune of about R80 000.
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation. -@FanieFLK
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Neighbour praised for rescuing boy from house fire
