Doornkop fire destruction leaves a trail of disaster
When the fire was eventually put out, not a single thing could be salvaged.
Days after a devastating fire occurred in Doornkop in the early hours of last Tuesday, residents have described it as a horrific tragedy which will continue to haunt the affected.
Simangele Sikhosana (32) who was renting in one of the informal settlements that were engulfed in flames watched her whole life and belongings go up in smoke.
She said she was traumatised and was devastated with losing everything including essential documentation.
“I was not around when the fire started but when I arrived here everything in my shack was also on fire. When the fire was eventually put out, not a single thing could be salvaged.
“I am left with the clothes I was wearing. I don’t even know where to begin,” an emotional Sikhosana told Urban News.
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“What is even worse is that I am unemployed. The people in the main house allowed me to rest here in the meantime until I figured out what to do next. If I can get assistance with a new place to stay shack to rebuild ahead of the rainy seasons.”
The cause of the fire was still unclear but according to the occupant of the main house, Sipho Lushaba, it started in one of the shacks outside, where the now deceased 26-year old Nkosi Moyo was sleeping.
“I had been sitting with him up until midnight when he went to sleep but around 1:30 am we were woken by his loud cries.
“When we got outside the fire was already spreading. With water buckets, hosepipe and sand, we tried to stop it from spreading,” he recalled to Urban News.
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Moyo who comes from Zimbabwe succumbed to smoke inhalation, according to Emergency Management Services after attempts by residents to rescue him failed.
“He was already dead when the emergency people arrived. We had been trying to open from outside, while he tried opening from inside but the shack had gotten so hot. It got difficult and we believe that is when he collapsed because he was found on his back looking up.”
According to Lushaba, the fire from Moyo’s shack quickly spread out to the next shack, belonging to Sikhosana.
“We are saddened about how it happened. We have never seen anything like this, the manner in which it all happened.
“No death is easy to accept, so it hurts especially how he died. He was like one of us, that’s how we considered him.”
Sikhosana pleaded for assistance from the public adding that, “I have absolutely nothing. I am appealing for people to help where they can.”
