A Smartie Town grandmother is battling to pick up the pieces after her home, and that of her daughter and sister were gutted in a fire on Saturday.
Maryanne Solomons, 64, lives in a brick maisonette with her son and grandson; while, wendy houses in the yard are llved in by her daughter, her two children and her boyfriend; and Ms Solomons’s sister, her husband and adult son. They are all now living in Beacon Valley.
This after a fire destroyed their Eastridge homes and spread to their adjacent neighbours’ homes on either side.
Ms Solomons said she was grateful that her neighbours had stood by them during this devastation.
“We lost everything. I have no clothes. We don’t have food. We don’t have beds and we are now living by my daughter-in-law in Beacon Valley,” she said.
She said her daughter had been styling her aunt’s hair in the living room, when she saw the flames in the backyard.
On getting to the fire, Ms Solomons fell but was able to get up with the help of the neighbours.
“Almal staan by mekaar. Ons is baie lief vir mekaar. Ek voel net dat my liggaam is seer en a wil graag relax,” she said.
Eastridge United Sports Club soccer coach Melissa Hoffman said they have collected some goods and will deliver it to the Solomons family later today, Wednesday February 2.
Ms Solomon’s grandson is a member of the club.
City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Jermaine Carelse said they were called about the fire in Cycad Road at 2.34pm on Saturday January 29.
He said the fire started in the wood and iron structures and had spread to adjacent structures and three houses in the same street.
Mr Carelse said fire crews from Mitchell’s Plain, Gugulethu and Lansdowne had been on the scene.
“One of the formal dwellings was declared unsafe by the City’s structural engineer.
“No injuries were reported and the fire was extinguished at 5:05pm,” he said.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
