For Itani Mutobvu (29) of Madombidzha, his return to home at around 21:00 last Monday (31 January), after an exhausting day in Louis Trichardt, was not at all pleasant. He only arrived in time to try and help family members and friends extinguish the fire that was gutting his room.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this stage. Mutobvu’s younger brother, Jonas Mutobvu, said he became aware of the strong smell of fire when he was in the next room and came over to investigate. It was only then that he realised that his older brother’s room was on fire. He immediately alerted the other family members and the neighbours, who then joined him in pouring sand over the burning domestic articles, such as clothes, bed, an old sewing machine, books and other paper work. His ID book was partially burnt as well.

“I lost everything in the fire,” says Itani, the sad victim of fire. “I had some money in the house, about R2 500 in cash, and all of it burned down, along with the headboard. As you can see around here, I had bought some window frames and other things. I wanted to start building my own house on my stand.”

According to Itani, he immediately called the fire brigade's emergency number from his mobile phone when he saw the fire. His call was finally transferred to the relevant office, which he learnt was the Makhado Fire Station. “A female officer took my particulars and said that rescuers were on their way to my home,” he said.

Mutobvu further said that the Makhado fire fighters did not come as “the lady had promised”. Only he and the helpers managed, after a long battle, to extinguish the fire with buckets of wet river sand.

Makhado Fire Station’s divisional officer, Mr Jack Ramalatso, said that there was no record of such a case reported from Madombidzha on that day. “We’re here for the people,” he said. “Many people confuse the 121 general emergency call centre number for that of the fire station.”

Mutobvu said that, however, the Tshilwavhusiku police responded to his call. The spokesperson for the Tshilwavhusiku police, Constable Musiwalo Mahuwa, confirmed that a docket was opened, following the incident.