Four Elsies River men were hailed as heroes after they helped rescue a family from a burning house.
The disastrous fire broke out at the residence on the corner of 24th Street and Norwood on Sunday morning, just before 8am.
Dino Darries, Marcelino Petersen, Dwayne Jeffrey, and Elton Erasmus risked their lives to save the family and help extinguish the flames.
Dino says when he saw the flames, he didn't hesitate to climb up on the side of the double-story house to assist the family.
He broke the glass of the top window for the family to climb through, and says the asbestos roof was already burning.
Dino explains: “I heard people saying something was burning, and I ran till here. When I got here I saw the people standing at the window.
“I told the daddy to get out because he was panicking. Then I told the wife to give the small child on, the mother was the last person I helped out of the house.”
Marcelino, 32, says he, Elton and Dwayne began battling the fire with buckets of water and hose pipes after he saw Dino assisting the family.
Marcelino recalls: “A lot of people were standing here but none of them bothered to help. The flames were very high, but the four of us went up just so.
"The four of us were helping until the fire brigade got here, when they arrived we continued to assist them."
Videos of the fire incident show the men on top of the roof while a section of the house is engulfed in flames.
The City’s Fire and Rescue spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, says services received the call for help at 7.55 am.
Carelse reports: “The double-storey dwelling was severely damaged.
“Three rooms on the ground floor and two rooms on the first floor were damaged, as well as the roof.
“The motor vehicle [LDV] on the property was also affected as a result of this fire.”
He says no injuries were reported, and the fire was put out by 9am. He adds that the cops were called because the owner suspected the cause of the fire was arson.
The police's Forensics Unit officials were inspecting the property yesterday, while the family have declined to comment.
The four brave ouens have received praise from the Elsies River Community Policing Forum (CPF) for putting their lives on the line to assist the family.
Thanks to CPF, who has since communicated with the local fire chief, the four men will now receive some fire fighting training.
byron.lukas@inl.co.za