Fire forces community to work together

A burnt down house in Balvicar Road united the community as residents worked together to make a change.

On 1 July Vuki Simelane and his family’s life was changed forever when a fire erupted at home. Simelane said, “I was on my way home from work when the call came through that my house was busy burning down. I was concerned for the safety of my children.”

Luckily the domestic worker grabbed the children and ran outside as soon as she became aware of the fire. Simelane’s neighbour Marie Wells heard a scream that came from her neighbour’s house and first she thought someone was being attacked. Upon closer inspection she saw the smoke and heard the fire crackling.

Wells said, “I heard glass breaking and immediately pressed my panic button called the police in order for them to contact the Randburg Fire Department. The lady on the phone was extremely rude and slammed the phone down in my ear.” She decided to drive down to the Fire Department to go and see if she can get them to come and help out. While this was happening guards from Securitas arrived and created a perimeter around the scene. Upon arrival at the department Wells noticed that there was no fire engine at the station.

She added, “They told me that the emergency vehicle was at a accident on the corner of Republic Road and Oak Avenue. I called my husband and he confirmed that no one had arrived yet to start fighting the fire. My son and husband stood on top of our roof with a hosepipe to try and stop it from jumping over our wall and burning down our house.”

Balvicar Road street captain Soraya Patel said, “At 7pm I called the 10177 number and was told that the incident had already been reported and that the fire engine was on its way. At 7:15pm I called again and the operator took down the address for a second time. The fire department only arrived at 7:25pm and the house had already burnt down to the ground.”

Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said, “”The first engine on scene arrived within the required respond time at 7.17pm. This was the Hunterhill fire engine and staff started extinguishing the fire as soon as they arrived.” He mentioned that the cause of the fire is still under investigation. “It can take a month to complete an investigation depending on the incident itself.”

Blairgowrie Community Association Chairperson Jed Kemery said, “This tragedy pulled the community closer and nearly R14 000 has been collected for the family.”

Simelane concluded, “This incident caused me and my family to live everyday to the fullest and to never take anything for granted. I want to thank every resident and business that helped us out during this time. It just shows you that people still care about each other.”

Details: Donations Marie Wells 079-895-8610.