Family memories perish in the fire

The Ifeh family lost all their happy memories, built up over the years with their three children, in a fire that broke out in their house.

On Wednesday morning, July 5 the Ifeh family left their home in Hanell Glen Complex in Antelope Street to go to the airport to fetch family members who were coming to visit them from overseas.

A fireman stands by the lounge window and continues to extinguish the blaze in the area on Wednesday, July 5 in Antelope Street.

At approximately 09:45 Ms Heather Grant, the neighbour who has lived in the neighbourhood for 17-years, went to wash dishes in the kitchen that looks out onto the Ifeh home.

As she looked out of the window she noticed thick black smoke in the air. Unclear on what was happening she started shouting to her husband who was in the bedroom at that stage.

He came running to see what the urgency was and that is when they noticed the flames bellowing out of the windows and the smoke getting thicker and thicker.

That is when he immediately contacted a new ambulance service in eMalahleni to dispatch a fire truck.
While he was making this call, Ms Maureen Scheepers from the South African Country Crime Watch (SACCW) was making numerous calls to the Emalahleni Fire Department which remained unanswered.

Ms Oma Ifeh watches on in disbelief that everything in their family house has burnt.

She then contacted Langamed Fire Department and they responded within seconds.
As the neighbours waited for help to arrive, hosepipes were used to extinguish the fire where they could.
Grant then contacted the Ifeh family to notify them about the situation at their house.
Dr Richard and Oma Ifeh climbed out of their vehicle in disbelief.

Langamed Fire Department and the Emalahleni Fire Department worked together to extinguish the rest of the fire that had by this time spread throughout the house.

Eventually the fire was extinguished and the Ifeh family and neighbours looked on in shock.

“We have been living in this area for 17-years and it’s the first time we have experienced anything like this,” said Grant.

Grant and another neighbour sent out a letter to the neighbours in the area asking for help.

“As residents from eMalahleni we would like to ask family members if you could kindly assist with food products or in whatever way you could help as we had a crisis on Wednesday, July 5. A family lost everything as their house burnt down. The family have three sons aged, one, five and seven years old. Drop off houses for items are number 5 and 8 Hanell Glen, Antelope Street. We would appreciate any assistance,” said Grant.

“Our records indicate that we received a call at 9:52 and we arrived at the scene at 10:00. We suspect that the person who reported the incident called Langamed first before calling the Emalahleni Fire Department. We have several fire trucks in good working condition. The incident which was reported required that we dispatch one fire engine. In the event that our trucks do not cope, we have an agreement with surrounding mines and we can request assistance,” said Mr Kingdom Mabuza spokesperson from Emalahleni City Council.

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