The Makana Fire and Rescue Unit has appealed to the members of the public to call for professional help during a fire emergencies, rather than trying to fight it alone.
The Makana Fire and Rescue Unit has appealed to the members of the public to call for professional help during a fire emergencies, rather than trying to fight it alone.
This is after an elderly Joza couple lost all their possessions in an fire on 21 December.
The fire department said the fire had already progressed considerably when they were called to the house, near JD Dlepu stadium. Speaking to Grocott's Mail on Wednesday 7 January, Station Commander at Makana Fire and Rescue, Vuyokazi Sam, said, "We received a call from a community member at 1.46am.
"Our truck responded at 1.47am and we arrived at the house at 1.55am."
According to Sam there were no visible flames when fire fighters arrived at the home. They first saw smoke, and members of the community carrying buckets of water.
"This means they started putting out the flames themselves before calling the station. This is a very common and dangerous practice," Sam said.
"People who are not trained to deal with fires might fuel it further, or even endanger their lives."
Johnson and Nobendiba Mkhunqwana, 75 and 69 years respectively, are now living in the back yard shack formerly occupied by one of their sons.
The fire tore through their house in the early hours of 21 December. It also threatened their neighbours, who share a common wall. It was they who smelt the smoke first and woke up Mkhunqwana's sons while trying to extinguish the fire.
Johnson and Nobendiba were in Port Elizabeth visiting a family member at the time of the event.
Most of their furniture was burnt.
Sam urged the Mkhunqwana's to visit the fire department to get a report that will help them when applying for donations and food parcels.
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has a Social Relief of Distress (SRD) programme which assists distressed people, including victims of fire.
According to SASSA, the SRD is paid within 48 hours via cash, voucher or food parcel. The Mkhunqwanas had not yet received assistance from local authorities at the time of going to press.
