TWO men smashed their way into a Bluff house this morning, 14 August and rescued a grandmother who was trapped inside while the house burned.
Bluffite William Brown (20) was riding his motorbike along Marine Drive when he noticed smoke and decided to investigate. He quickly found a house engulfed in flames in Kiora Road. As he pulled up he heard a woman screaming that someone was trapped inside the house.
“My adrenaline kicked in and I ran around the house looking for a way to get in,” said Brown. He was quickly joined by Sanele Khawula (26), who was doing repairs on a house across the road. Together the two men sprayed a section of the house with water from a hosepipe and smashed through a window. They found the elderly woman who was suffering from smoke inhalation and burns to her arms and dragged her out of the house and to safety.
“From the time we arrived, it took us about 20 minutes to get her out. I noticed she was spitting out something black, so I turned her onto her side and waited for the ambulance to arrive.”
Khawula added that the flames were massive by the time they reached the grandmother, but felt relieved they had gotten her to safety.
Brighton Beach police, fire services and ambulances arrived and by 10.30am the flames were doused and the woman was taken to hospital. Most of the house was in ruin, with the roof collapsed.
Witnesses said the smoke was so thick they could barely see the road and it was visible from afar afield as Bayhead. The injured woman’s family, who were outside when the fire began, were unharmed.
CLICK HERE to read an update of how the woman (93) is doing
