Elysium house goes up in smoke
A heartbroken Doris said that she had left the house with only the clothes on her back.
An octogenarian has lost everything she owned in a house fire in Elysium on December 6.
Doris Eisenhardt (80) and her carer and close friend, Lisa Pereira (52), escaped the fire unharmed but will forever remember this day.
Doris was watching television, and Lisa was in her bedroom when she heard glass breaking.
She went to see what the cause of the noise was and whether Doris was safe.
She realised that Doris’s bedroom was on fire. She immediately called for Doris to vacate the house. Once Doris was safely outside, Lisa contacted the local community police forum for help.
The forum contacted the Umdoni Fire Department, but there was only a recorded message to say that no one was available to assist.
Eventually, one of the Elysium residents, Mr John East, was able to contact the fire department for help.
According to the chairperson of the community police forum, Tillie Kirkland, the Umdoni Fire Department was slow to respond.
She said that the fire department was contacted at 15:34, and they arrived at the scene at 16.37, by which time the fire was rapidly spreading. After about fifteen to twenty minutes of trying to douse the fire, the fire truck ran out of water.
The team was directed to Dolphin Drive to collect more water from a fire hydrant, only to realise that they had run out of petrol for the water pump.
Luckily, Tillie provided the petrol, and they continued to try and extinguish the fire. By then, most of the house had already been destroyed – only the dining room and kitchen were left.
A heartbroken Doris said that she had left the house with only the clothes on her back.
She said that she was glad to be alive but sad to see her home of 30 years go up in smoke, including everything she owned and all her photographs and memorabilia.
“We would like to thank Tillie Kirkland, Floppie Du Toit, Sharon Bales, and everyone who came to our assistance. It was traumatic, but we are safe and are grateful for the help,” said Lisa.
“Everyone banded together to help. Mr Tucker from the nearby farm sent his workers to help put out the fire.”
She also thanked the watch team on Zello and Gladiator Security for their help.
Tillie said that it was sad that more items in the house could not be saved because of the fire truck having to go back and forth.
Doris, Lisa, and their two dogs and a cat have been accommodated by neighbours for the time being.
