Two families, one in Manenberg, the other in Lansdowne, need help rebuilding their lives after separate fires gutted their homes.
A fire broke out in an elderly couple’s double-story home in Lotus Street, Lansdowne, at about 9am on Thursday May 7.
According to Lansdowne ward councillor Mark Kleinschmidt, the couple’s relative was repairing part of the roof when the fire started.
A passing jogger helped the couple salvage some of their furniture, but the fire gutted the top storey and the ground level suffered water damage.
“The swiftness of the fire crew really prevented the whole house from burning down.”
City Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Jermaine Carelse, said the fire had been extinguished just before 11am. Its cause was unknown. A man had been hospitalised with second-degree burns to his left arm and a man and a woman had been treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
On Monday April 27, a fire gutted Everline Waterboer’s Yusuf Dadoo Street house in Manenberg.
Two wendy houses on the property, where Ms Waterboer lives with her daughter and granddaughter, were destroyed.
A family member, Desiree Damon, said they had been unable to salvage anything and 65-year-old Ms Waterboer was now living in a shack in front of the ruined house.
According to Mr Carelese, the fire started at about 1.30pm, from an unknown cause, and was extinguished an hour later.
Manenberg Safety Community Forum chairwoman Roegshanda Pascoe said the family needed food, warm clothing, blankets, furniture, and many other things to rebuild.
To assist, call Everline Waterboer at 065 098 4208 or drop donations at Mark Kleinschmidt’s office at Lansdowne civic centre.