By Chris Totobela
The loud screams of a passerby woke up residents of Vellem Street in Joza on the weekend. When the neighbours ran out, they were greeted by huge flames coming out of a backyard flat.
Neighbours rushed to the scene with buckets of their reserved water and struggled to put out the fire. The taps were dry, and one neighbour offered her Jojo tank water, which was all used over the next 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze. Luckily, there was no one inside the flat.
Hi-Tec officers arrived at the scene and assisted by calling the fire department. However, residents spent more than an hour waiting for the fire department truck which did not come until they had left the scene.
One of the neighbours who helped on the scene was furious: “We are in deep trouble here in Makhanda. As you can see, our taps are dry, and we are here trying to fight this fire using our reserved water, and we are now completely out of water. What if the fire starts again?” he asked.
The occupant of the house, Lindani Nyenge, said he was very thankful to the neighbours. ” I was away when I received the message that there was a fire in my house, so I rushed home and found neighbours battling with fire. I want to thank them for jumping in and dealing with the fire, which looked very dangerous because of the wind blowing.
“I don’t have water, and I would have struggled to deal with this alone,” he added.
Joza residents combined their efforts to put the blaze out, showing the spirit of Ubuntu.
The cause of the fire is unknown at the moment, but the good news is that no one has been injured.
