A 74-year-old man was treated for minor symptoms of smoke inhalation on Thursday after he had rushed his two young grandchildren to safety.
This took place after it appeared that the air-conditioning unit in their Lenasia home’s lounge had short-circuited.
Vajoobhai Bhimjee then braved the flames again to drag out a mattress that was on fire.
Bhimjee had realised his home was on fire only when his granddaughter, who did not seem to have realised the gravity of the situation, approached him just after 7am on Thursday.
The flames, which began in the lounge, had set alight a set of blinds that connected the room to a guest room, where the seven-year-old granddaughter and five-year-old grandson had been sleeping.
As smoke filled the air, Bhimjee kept his cool, taking the two children to the home’s side entrance, where neighbours who had spotted the smoke billowing from the home were already waiting to help, with the emergency services having been contacted.
When Bhimjee noticed that the most intense part of the blaze was coming from a mattress in the guest bedroom, he ran back inside the smoke-filled building, rushed to the mattress and dragged it several metres to get it outside the front door.
Meanwhile, a group of about 10 neighbours had already switched off the building’s power and put a stop to the blaze with hoses and buckets.
A block of ash that was once a mattress lay in the front yard as a testament to the fire.
ER24 paramedics arrived shortly after the fire was extinguished and treated the neighbours, but insisted that the grandfather had to be taken to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic hospital because of his age.
He was stabilised at the scene shortly afterwards and was said to be recovering.
Coincidentally, Bhimjee’s wife had been at the hospital for an operation, and was going to be discharged on Thursday.
The couple’s daughter had gone to pick her up, which was why Bhimjee had been looking after his grandchildren.
Neighbours and family friends were still gathering at the home mid-morning, looking after Bhimjee’s grandchildren while his own children visited him at Bara.
Some had helped to clear some of the damaged furniture from the lounge, where smoke had completely destroyed the wallpaper, and piles of ash were still on the floor.
The group of 10 who helped out declined to be named, with one of the men saying: “We did not do this for acknowledgement, we did it because we are neighbours.”
- The Star/IOL
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