Fire guts abandoned house in Kenville
The blaze quickly spread and damaged large sections of the home with several people seeking shelter in the basement of the abandoned home.
CONCERNS have been raised over the safety of several families living in the burnt shell of an abandoned home on the corner of Hendon Road and Smithfield Road in the Kenville area.
Last week, a fire broke out and tore through the first floor of the home that had been occupied by several homeless people.
The blaze quickly spread and damaged large sections of the home with several people seeking shelter in the basement of the abandoned home.
Anil Beekrum, chairperson of the Kenville/Sea Cow Lake Ratepayers’ Association said it is suspected a gas bottle exploded, causing the fire.
“This abandoned home has been illegally occupied for years. When the fire broke out, it spread quickly, engulfing the first floor and spreading to other parts of the house. Our concern is now for the 33 people that occupy various sections of this building which should be condemned. It is structurally unsafe, and the people who live here have said they’ve noticed huge cracks in the foundation of the home.
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“I’ve spoken to the owners of the home, who now live in Cape Town, and they have asked for our assistance to demolish the home as it could collapse at any moment. There are some families living in the basement, without any protection from the elements, who are most at risk. We need the Department of Human Settlements to step in and move the people to a different location,” he said.
Beekrum revealed that a business factory across the road that had been looted in the KZN unrest last year had to be demolished after looters set fire to the building, causing severe structural damage.
“In the days after the unrest, the building was leaning precariously and was posing a risk to properties around it. The same is the case here now – if no action is taken, there could be an accident with terrible consequences,” Beekrum said.
Pamela Gwala, one of the homeless people occupying the building, said she feared for her safety after the fire but had nowhere else to go.
“Of course we are worried, but we have nowhere else to go. There are 33 people living in this house, and now, many of us are staying in the basement, which is open to the elements. We can see the cracks in the foundations, so every night I go to sleep, I don’t know what will happen. The fire has weakened the structure of the home now,” she said.
