UPDATE: Grandfather (60) dies in house fire
One of the neighbours, Thandi Letoka, said those on the scene grabbed a hosepipe from her house to try and put out the fire
THE fire at a Birchleigh North home on Monday, in which a 60-year-old grandfather died, was an electrical fire which started at a plug point in the house.
Nicky Ludick, whose husband John died in the fire, visited the house on Tuesday morning with the insurance assessors, who confirmed the cause. The fire was certainly not started by a lighter.
In a statement released this morning by Mr Douglas Ludick, the father of the six-year-old boy, he said any speculation on the cause of the fire at his parents’ house was pure conjecture. He emphasised that family members who escaped the fire were all in a state of shock and confusion and had no idea of the cause.
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“GET out of the house,” a 60-year-old grandfather told his elderly mother and grandson shortly before he died in a house fire in Birchleigh North on Monday afternoon.
The house on Acilia Street apparently burned down after a chair in the sitting room next to where a six-year-old boy was playing, caught fire. Kempton Express was initially told the little boy was playing with a lighter.
The boy ran to Knoetze when he saw the fire.
“By that time John had already seen the fire. All we had was a milk jug with water to pour over the flames but it was too late because the fire had become huge,” Knoetze, who suffered slight burns, told Kempton Express on the scene.
“My son then told me to get out of the house.”
Unfortunately he did not make it, as he used crutches to walk and died in the fire.
The fire brigade was called to the scene by neighbours and ANC PR councillor for Ward 91, Makhosazane Dhladhla-Mavundla.
“The fire started at about 2pm. We just saw fire and smoke coming out of the home, that was when we called the fire brigade. In the meantime we called the neighbours for help and pushed the family’s vehicle out of the yard and away from the fire out of fear that it might cause an explosion because of the petrol,” Mavundla said.
One of the neighbours, Thandi Letoka, said those on the scene grabbed a hosepipe from her house to try and put out the fire.
According to ER24 spokesman, Luyanda Majija, by the time paramedics arrived on the scene, Ludick had been burned beyond recognition.
“His mother told paramedics that he managed to assist her and their grandson to exit the house before the roof collapsed on him,” Majija said.
According to Capt Lesibana Molokomme, spokesman for Norkem Park SAPS, an inquest had been opened and a forensic investigation would determine the cause of the fire.
