A man (82) has died after a fire broke out in his residence in the early hours of 11 May.
A witness and resident in the complex who chose to remain anonymous said that he was woken up by loud bangs on his door and when he stepped outside he could see the flames.
“The flames were very high and they were coming out of the windows at the top of the house. I believe that the fire began in the study,” he said.
A fire broke out in the early hours of 11 May that resulted in the death of an elderly man.
According to the witness who was visibly shaken, the deceased, Jeremy Lang, lived by himself.
“We tried to save him but we could not get to him on time. We tried to cool the fire with hosepipes but it was just not enough,” he said
The man added that he risked his life by attempting to gain entry into Lang’s bedroom where they suspected him to be after emergency services took over an hour to arrive.
“I entered the house and went upstairs and tried to crawl under the smoke but unfortunately the smoke was too much for me to bear and I had to get out as quickly as I could,” he said.
He said he wished he could have done more to save Lang whom he described as a very sweet man who he took as his father.
“I really regret not being able to do more because I was so close and yet I could nothing to save Jeremy. I feel so bad because he was the sweetest man I knew,” the man said.
The spokesperson for the Johannesburg Emergency Services, Nana Radebe confirmed that emergency services were called to a fire in Linden and said that two upstairs bedrooms were gutted by the fire.
“Fire safety officers are investigating the exact cause of the fire and we will know more when investigations are concluded,” Radebe said.
