A house fire that took place in Springbok Street could have ended in tragedy had it not been for the quick thinking and heroic efforts of neighbours and the community of Reyno Ridge.
On Wednesday, September 25, at around 06:00, Lora Saunders’ daughter came running to her, absolutely frantic. The neighbour’s house was on fire. Lora immediately sprang into action and ran outside to her neighbour’s house, all the while finding her inner voice and commandeering everyone and anyone she could see for help. She checked the neighbour’s gate and by the grace of God, it was not locked.
“When we heard the granny screaming for help, I knew we had to do something and quickly. I started screaming and calling anyone and everyone for help. Even the neighbours across the road heard me. I don’t know where I managed to get that big voice from to call for help,” said Lora.
Upon entering the yard, Lora heard her elderly neighbour, who is confined to a wheelchair, screaming for help inside the house. The granny was trapped with no way out, and the inferno was picking up momentum.
Lora quickly flagged down another community member, and with swift action and quick thinking, the gentleman, who remains unidentified, just like a true superhero, reversed his bakkie into the yard, tied a set of jumper cables to the burglar bars of a window and with all the might of a bakkie’s power, ripped them right out of the wall.
In record time, they had broken the window, lifted the granny, wheelchair and all, over the broken glass and away from the suffocating smoke, before re-entering the house to start saving her possessions before the fire spread and possibly destroyed them.
In the minutes it took to save her, the fire brigade was already at the scene. They managed to extinguish the blaze before the entire house went up in flames. Only one room and the roof of the house sustained fire damage, although there is extensive soot damage.
This fire could have ended in the death of a granny and a family losing their entire home and all their possessions, had it not been for the heroic acts of their neighbours and the community, as well as the lightning fast response from the fire department.
“The granny is doing fine now. The ambulance came and took her to the hospital to be checked out. She is back at home now, and they have started cleaning up the mess caused by the fire,” Lora said further.
A day after heritage day, this was a heart-warming example of the true spirit of Ubuntu and what communities can achieve when they work together.
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