WATCH: Mysterious fire leaves Mofolo family destitute

Residents of Mofolo North scrambled in desperation to contain a fire that occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The flame that engulfed multiple backrooms along Matime Street ripped through the Khumalo yard, destroying everything in its path.

The fire started shortly after 2AM, just after load shedding ended in the area, however the family said the cause of the fire remained a mystery as they did not believe it was caused by a power surge.

“We still don’t know how it happened, we were woken up by an intense smell of smoke from a burning wig which is bizarre because there was no electricity at the time and none of the appliances were connected,” explained a distressed Thabitha Khumalo.

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“We then decided to go sleep in the main house as the burning smell from the wig became too intense, making it difficult to breathe.”

The 39-year-old said shortly after they moved into the main house for the night, it wasn’t long before a massive fire broke out in the room they had just vacated.

She said she was still traumatized.

“It happened after when the power was restored because we were still up in the main house. One of the cousins frantically called out my name, shouting that I was inside the burning room.

“When we dashed outside, were met with a massive fire,” she recalled, adding that she would have died in the flames.

As the fire spread, neighbours attempted to help and salvage the belongings but were met with scorching flames which quickly swept through one room to the next, making it difficult to manoeuvre before they retreated and waited for emergency services.

The family who live in their grandmother’s home told the publication that the three grandchildren who occupied the back rooms were all not employed.

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Another Khumalo sister, Senzi added, “We have lost our identity documents, furniture, school uniforms and supplies. I luckily managed to save my clothes but the other people, especially Thabitha are only left with the clothes on their backs.

“The incident is particularly a hard pill to take in because we are all not working and have to start over, but we have no idea how we can do that.”

The Khumalos appealed to the public and local business community for urgent assistance with clothing donations or restoring the backrooms.

Thabitha Khumalo can be contacted on 068 329 5653.