A DRY fire hydrant, as a result of the ongoing water outages in Phoenix, saw a family’s home go up in flames on Saturday night.
The home belonged to 69-year-old pensioner, Ernest Pillay, which he shared with his daughter, Shantal Pillay, 42, and her two children aged 14 and 6.
Pillay’s son, Tino, said his sister and her children were at home at the time of the incident at 6.30pm. Pillay was at a ceremony.
“My sister went to the kitchen to boil water for tea. My dad had prepaid electricity and to save on costs, they used a gas stove to cook and boil water. When my sister turned the gas stove on, a flame suddenly sprung up and went straight to the gas line. Scared of an explosion, she grabbed both her children and ran out of the house. She managed to save a photograph of our mother, Premi, who died nine months ago after suffering a stroke. Minutes later, there was an explosion and the house was engulfed in flames.”
Tino said a neighbour called the fire department for help.
“My sister contacted my father and myself. I live in Unit 9 and I rushed to the scene. Seeing our family home of 35 years up in flames left me with so many emotions. I cannot explain how we are feeling.”
He said firefighters used all the water they had to try in the truck to try and put out the fire.
“They tried to connect to a fire hydrant but there was no water at the time. We the constant outages, our water supply is intermittent. The firefighters had to leave the fire and drive to Ottawa to fill up water. They returned to the scene 45 minutes later. By then the fire had engulfed our flat and also caused damages to two of our neighbour’s homes,” added Tino.
He said the area had been receiving an intermittent supply of water for months now.
“Nobody could help. We also could not connect hose pipes to put out the blaze because there was not a drop of water. We believe if the firefighters were able to connect to the fire hydrant they would have been able to contain the fire to the kitchen. This would have prevented the fire from spreading and damaging the other homes. We are thankful that nobody was hurt but my dad has lost everything. My sister’s belongings were also destroyed along with her children’s school books and bags. They have been left with nothing.”
Pillay said the home was not insured.
“Right now, our focus is to try and rebuild the home. We are in dire need of help with building materials.”
To assist, call Pillay on 062 357 9178.