Brother relives trying to save sister trapped in house fire
He had tried to crawl into the house to get his sister, who was trapped in a bedroom.
DESPITE numerous attempts to save his little sister, a Montclair teenager watched helplessly as their home was engulfed in flames, claiming the life of five-year-old Sphumelele Mtshali, who had been asleep.
A fire had ravaged their family’s home on Benson Road in Montclair on October 5.
Her elder brother, Lindokuhle Dlamini, 19, said the family had been asleep when he was awoken by the smell of smoke at around 23:00.
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Dlamini said he rushed to his mother’s bedroom to alert her.
He lived with his mother, Nomthandazo Dlamini, and Sphumelele, on the upper level of the home, which had a separate entrance. While two other families rented the lower level.
“Everything was dark and there was a lot of smoke, but at the time I did not see any flames. I ran to wake up my mother. When she opened her bedroom, she was hit with the smoke smell and was struggling to breathe. I thought to help her get out of the house first and would return for my sister. When we got downstairs and I shouted for the tenants to wake up. One of our tenants has a newborn.
“As I ran back to our house entrance there was a loud sound and then I saw a burst of flames in one of the empty bedrooms upstairs. The room was next to my mother’s bedroom. It all happened within seconds,” he said.
Dlamini said he ran back to the entrance of the upper level, but the fire had already spread to the kitchen.
“I tried to crawl through the kitchen, but the fire was spreading so fast and I could not get to the bedroom. We have wooden floors upstairs.
“So, I ran back downstairs, and tried to climb up a gutter pipe to get to my mother’s bedroom, but I was too late as the fire had spread to her room. We tried to throw water toward the bedroom, but the fire just started getting bigger. The upper-level floors had collapsed. I could not save my sister,” he said.
Dlamini, said Sphumelele, attended creche and was very smart.
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“She loved going to creche and learning new things. She would come home and tell us what she did that day and was always so happy. My mother was going to enrol her in a primary school for next year.
“My baby sister and I were very close, we were inseparable. She would wait for me to come home from work and we would watch TV and eat supper together. She would follow me wherever I went, either inside or outside the house. If I went to the shop, she would always go with me.
“She loved to play soccer with me in the yard. We are struggling to cope without Sphumelele, she was our baby and brought us so much joy,” he said.
Dlamini said the family had also lost everything and that their house and its contents were not insured.
“We were left with what we were wearing, not even shoes. We are not sure what caused the fire and we will have to rebuild our house, but it will never be a home without my sister,” he said.
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Jordan van der Westhuizen, a response officer at First Plan Protection Services, a private company, said he received information about the fire at around 11:25.
“A voice note was shared in one of our community groups, Montclair Crime Eye, which we monitor, requesting assistance with a house that was on fire. Upon arrival, I dispatched the fire department and all other emergency services. I was told by the community members that there was a child trapped in the house.
“I ran down the stairs to the front door. It had a security gate, which I managed to bend open and gain entry into the house. But, as soon as I entered the roof started to collapse and there was no way for me to safely enter and look for the little girl.
“We managed to get everyone away from the house as there were gas cylinders that were exploding. The fire department arrived shortly thereafter and managed to put out the fire, which had spread rapidly,” he said.
Van der Westhuizen thanked the community members who tried to assist.
“Everyone tried their best to save the little girl’s life. It is at times like these that we see the community standing together and helping each other, for which I am thankful,” he said.
Captain Cheryl Pillay, a Montclair police station spokesperson, said police are investigating an inquest docket. She said members of the fire department who attended the scene, are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire.
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