Gardener saves homeowner as fire guts Melrose home

A gardener broke a wooden window to save a homeowner whose house caught fire in the early hours of Thursday in Melrose, Johannesburg.

Evans Bipa told TimesLIVE that his boss, believed to be in his 80s, was trapped inside. The house was gutted by the fire in what is believed to be an arson attack.

The owner, whose name is known to TimesLIVE, said he was devastated but lucky to be alive. 

“I am so devastated. I cannot speak,” said the man, who asked not to be named.

He referred questions to his gardener. Bipa, who sleeps in a separate house, said he was asleep when he heard the security guard ringing the gate bell.

“I think it was around 3am. I asked why would he ring the bell at this time and when I opened my door I saw the fire raging on the roof of the house,” he said.

Bipa rushed to the entrance of the main house and tried to gain access but because of the smoke he could not see anything inside and wasn’t able to enter.

Bipa said he feared for the occupant's life because the fire had already spread to the side of his bedroom. “I quickly ran to the back of the house where there is a wooden window. I pushed that and got in,” he said.

He said he found his boss trapped in one of the rooms.

“After going in, I pulled him out. That’s why he is alive. He was about to die. We don’t know what caused the fire,” he said.

Bipa added that everything inside the house was damaged and they couldn’t salvage anything. He said the owner got out only with the clothes he was wearing.

“His car was damaged ... if it wasn’t for firefighters even the car would have burnt to ashes. It is just the two of us staying here. His wife passed away in September last year,” Bipa said.

A neighbour who didn’t want to be named said her 14-year-old son came to her bedroom to tell her that their neighbour’s house was on fire.

“He said he heard some sort of a bang and he wasn’t sure what it was. When I looked through the window, I saw flames. Then we came out to the street to see what was going on and we phoned a security company,” she said.

The neighbour said the homeowner is her relative.

“His wife was the first cousin of my husband. So we know him very well. He does a lot of community work and he is an amazing man. It is very sad,” she said.

Andre Snyman from eBlockwatch said they could not rule out if it was the arsonist who has targeted numerous homes over the past few months, who set the house on fire.

“We are still trying to establish if the fire was arson,” he said. “He doesn’t seem to steal. He seems to be more focused on the fire.”

Snyman said the incident seemed similar to that of previous homes that were set alight.

“The fire was very fierce in one spot of the home. It gutted the kitchen area and burnt the roofing of the garage,” he said.

“Lots of the fires start early in the morning, which is an indication of what we suspected the arsonist does. He burns the properties at a certain time.

“At one he set alight the house and cut the hosepipe so people coming to save the victims couldn’t use it.”

Snyman believes the alleged arsonist works alone and possibly “has a grudge against a certain group of people”.

Synman added that he'd had a conversation with a “captain” from Norwood police station who indicated that “people were not sharing information”, alleging competition between crimefighters as to who will catch the “arsonist”.

CAP Security, which responded to another fire in the area, said at around 4am, a man allegedly gained access to the property. Once inside, he set the kitchen alight.

“The homeowner woke up to loud banging and smelled smoke which resulted in him exiting the property and pressing his panic button which alerted CAP,” said CAP Security.

A Johannesburg EMS spokesperson said they attended to the incident but couldn’t confirm if it was arson.