Family loses everything as four shacks burn
FOUR backyard shacks in Parkside burnt to the ground early yesterday morning after an elderly man knocked a candle off his bedside table.
The shacks were not connected to the main house’s electricity supply.
The incident comes just six months after the family lost a relative in a backyard shack blaze at the house in Windyridge Road.
The man, Eddie Taylor, 76, who suffered a stroke about 10 years ago, said he was still dealing with the shock.
“I can’t really remember how it all happened,” said Taylor.
The blaze destroyed the wooden shacks just after 2am.
They were occupied by 10 relatives, who have lost all their belongings. Community members rushed to try and douse the fire before the fire brigade arrived.
Taylor’s nephew Sharwin Taylor, 32, said it was an emotional morning as it reminded him of the previous fire when he lost his mother.
“I heard my uncle screaming ‘it’s burning, it’s burning’ and I ran out to find him standing in the doorway. I picked him up and carried him inside the main house,” Sharwin said.
Among the relatives who live in the backyard are five children aged between two and 12 who stay with their parents. They lost all forms of identity as well as their school belongings.
Ward 6 councillor Peter Kiki said he would try to help the family.
Buffalo City Metro spokesman Sibusiso Cindi said Fire and Rescue Services responded to the fire at around 2.41am, and it “was totally extinguished at about 3.28am”.