Fiery blaze lights up night sky
DOUGLASDALE - A house fire lit up the night sky and electrified the residents of Douglasdale on Tuesday night.
Neighbours watched, astounded, as the thatched roof of a house on the corner of Kingswood Crescent and Glenluce Drive North go up in a halo of flames on the evening of 22 July.
One eyewitness, Ian Otridge, described the intense heat of the flames, suggesting that the house was “a lost cause”.
Emergency services received a call at 9.56pm, and rushed to the scene. Eyewitnesses claimed that firefighters seemed unable to quell the flames, and instead focused their efforts on preventing the fire spreading to neighbouring houses.
However, Robert Mulaudzi of the City of Joburg’s Emergency Services denied these assertions, stating that the fire was successfully extinguished by the six fire engines on the scene. Mulaudzi emphasised that protection of neighbouring buildings is a routine part of firefighting operations. Fortunately, a windless night assisted the firefighters, and no other houses were affected.
The residents of the house were not inside when the blaze started, and arrived only once firefighters were on the scene. According to Mulaudzi, no one was injured, but an investigation has been opened to determine the cause of the fire.
