Hero helps extinguish fire

Gideon Mannie was preparing for an exam in his room when he saw a massive orange glow through his curtain. “At first I thought it was the light outside, but then I remembered that it hadn’t been working for some time,” he said.

Mannie said he opened the curtain and “smoke was everywhere and I saw burning branches”. He immediately called the fire station and went outside to see what was happening. “I realised that our neighbours’ Canary Palm tree was on fire,” he said.

The Grade 9 pupil of Torah Academy Boys High School rushed to evacuate the domestic worker and her children who were in the cottage, within metres of the fire.

Initially they tried to extinguish the fire using buckets of water, Mannie then did the unthinkable. He went onto the roof, barefoot, with a hosepipe and directly sprayed water on the burning tree. “I felt a major adrenalin rush while I was on the roof,” he said. His father Gareth said extinguishing the fire took almost 45 minutes.

The proud father said, “Together with the neighbour they managed to put out the fire without major damage caused to either property.”

Although fire fighters arrived at the scene, the fire had already been extinguished by Mannie and his neighbour. Gareth saluted his sons bravery and ability to perform such a task under pressure, “I would like to thank him for taking control of the situation and seeing it through to a successful conclusion,” he said.

The fire started while the neighbours were having a braai and the tree caught fire through flames from the braai chimney. No one was injured and no major damages were incurred during the fire.