Hip hop icon and radio DJ Ready D was left heartbroken when a mysterious fire broke out at his Southfield home on Sunday, destroying his cars and precious vinyl he has been collecting for decades.
DJ Ready D, whose real name is Deon Daniels, and his wife Malikah say they are devastated at the loss but grateful to be alive as the blaze swept through their garage.
Speaking to IOL Entertainment, Ready D said: “The weather was perfect and me and Malikah were sitting outside and relaxing; we then decided around 11am that we want to go out.
“I was getting dressed when I got the smell of burning wires, but thought maybe it’s someone braaing.
“My son and Malikah came inside the house and could also smell the same thing.
“And as we were heading out the house, she told my son to take a walk around the back to see if the smell wasn’t coming from there, he went and then started shouting that there is a fire in the garage.
“We noticed the blaze coming from the roof and everything started falling on Malikah’s Nissan 200SX S13, this also damaged my Nissan 200SX S14, which stood close by, but hers was completely burnt.”
He said the cars were used for various projects over the past seven years, including featuring in films and advertising campaigns, but mainly for their own Safer Roads 4All (SR4A) campaign.
“They were specialised vehicles, with all the bells and whistles and safety components for the road safety programme, so that was our equipment for our programmes,” says Ready D.
“We tried to put out the flames with buckets of water, but we couldn’t get in there because our garage is small and the cars and stuff stored in there took extra space.
“Everyone was there within minutes, our friends and family and the neighbourhood watch were there to help us.”
He adds: “Thankfully nobody was injured, we got our animals out in time as well.
“There comes a point where you just have to walk away and accept that you could lose everything in that fire.
“I could hear the tyres popping, car batteries exploding and so it was heartbreaking.”
The Good Hope FM DJ says the vinyl he lost in the fire was a valuable asset.
“Those vinyls were really special, I collected them for 35 years from places all over the world, all genres.
“It’s probably the most rare vinyl collection owned by a DJ, globally, because I was blessed to have received that vinyl while touring with Prophets of the City,” Ready D adds.
Monday morning, there was another fire when smouldering magazines caught alight as the family were clearing up the debris.
The City’s fire and rescue services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse confirms the incident and says the cause of the blaze is yet to be determined.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za