Gas heater nearly burned down my house – owner
Resident: The heater started hissing and then caught fire.
A resident says he has EPR and his neighbours to thank for the fact that his house didn’t burn down completely.
Angelo Dionisios Couvaras has lived in his house since 1960, but his home of 56 years nearly burned down after he switched his gas heater on, and it started hissing and then caught fire.
Couvaras said, “I got home and lit my gas heater. Later when I came back into the room, the heater started hissing and caught fire. I ran to open the front door and grabbed some of the cushions off the couch to protect my hands while I moved the heater. I managed to push it out onto the veranda, but got burnt in the process. The heater later fell down next to the wall on the veranda.”
After trying to prevent an even bigger blaze, Couvaras called the emergency services, but there was no answer. He then proceeded to call EPR Security and his neighbours to douse the blaze.
While waiting for the fire brigade, the blaze got bigger, and burned a hole through his wooden floors and some of the beams on his veranda.
Fortunately the heater’s gas tank didn’t explode, but it did cause what Couvaras said is an estimated R500 000 worth of damage.
If the fire brigade had arrived sooner, there would not have been as much damage, but I’m grateful to EPR and my neighbours.
“EPR did a great job with helping me. They did everything they could, and so did my neighbours,” Couvaras said.
The blaze was eventually extinguished, but Couvaras did not walk away unscathed – he suffered some burns.
In a separate incident in Meyerton, 17 people were injured after an apparent business gas leak, said Chitra Bodasing, ER24 spokesperson. ER24 paramedics and Fire and Rescue were on scene to assist after the leak and a temporary triage unit was set up to treat patients after the building was evacuated.
“Patients complained of various symptoms, including headaches, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness,” Bodasing explained.
Some patients sustained minor to moderate injuries as a result of the gas leak.
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Also read:
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