A house fire was reported in Aqua Lane on Sunday evening, the 21st of August. A vehicle parked in a garage had inexplicably caught fire and threatened to burn down the home adjacent to it when neighbours sounded the alarm.
True to form the Tzaneen Neighbourhood Watch jumped into action and rushed to aid the occupants. They were first on the scene while frantic onlookers attempted to contact the Tzaneen Fire Department.
According to one of the neighbours, they first tried to reach the Fire Department and then tried to reach Tzaneen SAPS but had no luck and then resorted to calling one of the local security companies.
The security personnel on scene also tried without any success to get hold of the police or the fire department. One of the security guards then drove to the fire department to alert them about the fire which threatened to spread from the garage to the house.
By the time the Fire Department arrived on scene, the fire had already been doused and all they had to tend to was the smoldering aftermath in the garage. The first police vehicle pitched up on the scene about ten minutes after the fire brigade.
According to one of the witnesses, after the fire department doused the remains of the fire, they left the scene. It was about five minutes after they left, that flames started to emerge again. This time the people in attendance did not bother calling the fire fighters back, but rather doused the fire themselves.
At the time of going to print the Tzaneen Fire Department had not responded to the accusations levelled against them by the public and neither had the police returned any comment on the matter.
In a strange twist of fate, the occupants of the house where the fire had started, lost all of their belongings in a house fire exactly three years ago, almost to the date, in a house they were renting in Deerpark.
On the 17th of August 2019, Bulletin was on scene with William Roux and his family, a day after the house they were living in, had caught fire, and was destroyed leaving the family with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
At the time of going to print it was not clear how the fire in Aqua Lane started and none of the occupants of the home were available for comment. It is also unclear whether an investigation was launched by the police or the Fire Department.
