Burning tree falls in road in Welgedacht
Residents of Welgedacht took it upon themselves to remove a toppled tree from First Avenue on Friday, after emergency services failed to assist.
The tree fell over into the street after catching alight in a veld fire.
According to Elise van der Merwe (41), a resident of the street, she heard a loud noise on Friday morning, at about 10am, and went to investigate.
She found the burnt tree in the road, posing a great danger to motorists.
A shop owner in the area allegedly alerted the Fire Department, but they did not arrive.
Fanie Zietsman (60) rushed to the scene after receiving a phone call from van der Merwe, who is a family friend.
“The tree was still burning in the middle of the road, so I hooked the stumps to my car and dragged them to the side of the road so other motorists could pass,” he says.
Van der Merwe and her neighbour Gertrude Molete (60) used brooms to sweep the remaining debris from the road, while other neighbours attempted to extinguish the still-smoking tree with buckets of water.
The stumps were still smouldering when the Addie arrived on the scene at 1pm.
