They may have saved countless lives, and most of those they saved never knew it.
Westdeners Okkert Graham (73) and Anita Graham-Viljoen (65) woke up one morning to discover that the large palm tree in the yard behind theirs was on fire.
“I woke up at 5am to go the bathroom and I saw light flickering outside the window,” Anita Graham recounted on 17 July.
“When I checked it out I saw that the massive palm tree at the house behind ours was ablaze. The telephone pole above it was also on fire. It was a big fire.”
Husband Okkert joined her in an effort to wake their neighbours, but none of the neighbours seemed to be awake. “We yelled and screamed, but nobody came,” she said.
“So my husband Okkert and I stood on a ledge next to our wall with our hosepipe and tried to put the fire out. It was very windy, and the fire didn’t want to go out.”
The Grahams stood with their hosepipe for more than an hour, trying their best to put the fire out.
“Initially, we were afraid to call the fire brigade because of an article we’d read in the paper, saying that we had to pay for fire-services,” Okkert Graham said.
“But we finally called them, and continued trying to hold the blaze at bay.”
They thought the firemen would come. They didn’t.
Finally, Anita left her hosepipe vigil in search of a nozzle for the hosepipe, and then slipped against the swimming pool. She broke her wrist and bruised her face heavily; her eye is still blackened from the impact.
After Anita’s fall the wind died down, the flames simmered and the neighbours woke up and came out of their houses. Disaster was averted.
The Grahams may very well have saved their corner of Westdene from a catastrophe.
“We’re just happy nobody else got hurt,” the couple said.
*Brixton Fire Department was contacted for commentary, but had not responded by the time of going to print.
