Family loses all in raging fire
2005-11-17
DESPITE good rain in the Drakenstein area this past weekend, members of the fire brigade were nevertheless kept on their toes, due to various fires in the area.
A family living in Central Paarl are extremely lucky to be alive today after awakening to an inferno on Sunday night.
Major Graham Brooke-Smith of the Salvation Army in Breda Street was awoken by his son, Kyle (17) at about 23:00, screaming “fire, fire”.
“It all happened so fast, and when we woke up we saw that the house was already engulfed by flames.”
“We do have a fire-extinguisher, but it was too late to even try and use it,” said a bewildered Graham.
“My wife, Aileen, and I just grabbed the children and pets and ran to safety. We can be very lucky that we awoke when we did, otherwise we surely would have been asphyxiated by the smoke.”
Graham’s eldest daughter, Tammy (15), had packed her bags that evening for her trip to Singapore, where she is due to represent South Africa in the World Cyber Games. Fortunately she managed to grab her bags before leaving the burning house.
The Brooke-Smiths lost all their worldly belongings in the fire, including their children’s school uniforms.
“We sat on the pavement in our pajamas and watched as everything we own burnt to the ground,” said Graham.
They were due to move into a newly built house on the property of the Salvation Army, but the plumbing and electricity had not been connected.
It is suspected that the fire was caused by an electrical fault in the roof.
In another incident, nine shacks were gutted by fire in the early hours of Monday morning at Silvertown in Mbekweni. It is not known how the fire started, but at least 27 people were left homeless after the unfortunate event (pic page 8).
Another 15 shacks, as well as a crèche, were destroyed by a fire in the early hours on Tuesday morning in Nederpark, Mbekweni.
The fire was apparently started by a paraffin stove which was left unattended.
Due to the rapid response of the fire department, many other homes were spared from devastation.
Also in Mbekweni, a home in F-block was razed to the ground after a faulty television set apparently caught alight.
Everything in the house was destroyed.
On Friday night, a camper van caught alight on the N1 outside Paarl.
This was apparently due to an electrical fault. No injuries were reported in any of these events.
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