Fire guts a duplex unit along Rietfontein Road
A woman living in one of the units was rushed to Tambo Memorial Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. There were no other injuries.
An emergency response team from Boksburg Central with a backup from Benoni fire stations responded to an emergency call when a frantic man drove to Leon Ferreira Fire Station to lodge a report of a duplex unit on fire along Rietfontein Road on August 26.
Bekezela Moyo, who was visiting his family and friends living in the same complex, reacted promptly to inform the fire station of the blaze on Sunday, August 26.
Emergency services were then on the scene within minutes. William Ntladi, the Disaster and Emergency Management Services spokesperson, confirmed they were notified of the fire just after 5pm.
He applauded Moyo for his heroism and the firefighters who contained the fire in just 10 minutes before it could spread to other units.
“Unfortunately there was nothing more that could have been done to salvage the particular unit that was on fire,” said Ntladi.
Moyo said he also made sure that all the occupants of the unit that was on fire were evacuated, and also went around the complex to caution everyone to vacate their units to avoid smoke inhalation.
The director of the company that owns this block of flats, Chris Smith, was at a church service when he received a call from his family informing him of the fire.
He immediately rushed to the scene, being concerned for the safety of his tenants.
“Buildings can be fixed and lives cannot,” said Smith, and to his relief, all tenants were accounted for.
Smith confirmed that one of the flats burned down entirely, and the two other flats were also partially damaged. “The tenants will be moved to another complex while investigations are underway,” said Smith.
Ntladi is appealing to the community to utilise the following numbers in the event of emergencies for a quick response: the 24 hours emergency call centre number 011 458 0911, the national emergency call centre 10177 and the emergency number from a cellphone 112.
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