Kelvin community members gather together to fight house fire
KELVIN – Read about how the community rallied together in an emergency situation...
A house in Sunny Way went up in flames on 16 June at about 9pm.
Community members rallied together to contain the fire before emergency services arrived on the scene. City of Johannesburg’s Emergency Management Services spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi said they received a call at 9.10pm and the first vehicle arrived on the scene at 9.40pm.
The residence was occupied by a number of people who were present on the scene.
“Most of them were treated for smoke inhalation,” said Mulaudzi.
Community members rallied together with fire extinguishers and hoses to contain the flames. Kelvin Residents Association chairperson, Luewellyn Pillay said he received an alert through a Kelvin Guardians Whatsapp group and sent the message on to the KRA 911 Response group to bring about assistance.
Photo: Supplied
“We were fighting the fire with one hosepipe and a couple of fire extinguishers. I was one of the first to arrive on the scene and after messaging the group of 490 residents, there were soon 30 people behind me helping out before emergency services arrived. The fire was dealt with by midnight,” said Pillay.
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Pillay said he received notification two months ago that the property was being rented by a number of different parties. “Two outside rooms adjoined to the building were on fire as well as a metal trailer. Residents had to hack at the metal walls of the trailer with picks in order to pry away the metal sheeting to be able to get to the source of the flames.”
He added that the fire department called the affected residence an informal settlement. “Doors within the house were locked from the outside and there are shacks along the boundary of the property housing additional occupants.”
Pillay said the property had been inspected by council’s building control in March and notice was served for illegal structures.
“KRA has been actively working with council to identify multi-tenant properties to ensure owners are in line with regulations and bylaws as overcrowding impacts negatively on council services and safety and security.”
Though the cause of fire is yet to be revealed, ward councillor Werner Smit said it seems to have been caused by illegal electrical connections in the property.
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