UPDATE: Montclair family loses everything as house burns

A SINGLE mother believes her faith carried her family through, when they narrowly escaped a fire that destroyed their Montclair home and all their belongings yesterday morning (Thursday, 12 July).

Lorraine Majola, a mother of six children, was at work when she was called about the fire.
“I left for work owning a home and few hours later, I returned to no home. But I’m grateful that none of my children, grandchild or domestic worker were injured.

The material stuff we have lost is replaceable but I could never replace my family,” she said quietly.

READ and WATCH:  [VIDEO] Emergency crews respond to Montclair house fire

The Majola home, on the corner of Langton and Buller roads, caught alight while everyone was still inside. Lorraine’s 22-year-old son, Anele said he was laying down on his bed when his sisters burst in, panicked. “They said one of my sister’s rooms was on fire. The main issue was the bed which was alight. I tried to shove it out of the window, but it was too big. It fell back inside and the curtains caught alight. My focus quickly shifted to getting everyone out of the house. By that time the smoke was thick and it was difficult to see but we managed to escape unharmed,” he said.

As the family watched their home of 16 years reduced to nothing but a skeleton of ash and ruin, Lorraine believes this is part of a bigger plan. “I would like to believe that God wanted me to start again, as if he has bigger plans for me. I choose not to focus my energy on what I have lost in this fire. I’d rather focus on what I didn’t lose, like my family. This is something nobody expects to happen, we have lost everything from our beds to spoons,” said Lorraine.

The family is staying with kind neighbours but have to use their car as a sleeping area. “We are thankful for the neighbours we have, as they have taken my family in. I have had some people from the area come and give us blankets and food, which we are grateful for,” she added.

Three of her children are in high school. Her son is in grade 9 and her daughter is a matric pupil at New Forest High School, while her other daughter is in grade 11 at Lamontville High School.

All their school uniforms, books and stationary were incinerated in the fire. With school starting soon, the children have nothing to begin the new term. “My eldest daughter who is in matric is depressed at the moment, I can only imagine what she is going through. This is an important year of her schooling career and it all burnt to the ground,” said the mother.

The family escaped with just the clothes on their backs, and are now living one day at a time as they try to recover from this terrible setback.

To assist the family or for details contact the SUN office on 031-903-2341.