Shed fire spreads to destroy vehicle and damage sentimental family home
A FIRE that originated from an unauthorised shed has destroyed a vehicle and significantly damaged a family home in Havenside, Chatsworth.
The uninsured property, which holds deep sentimental value for owner Rahoof Abdul, suffered extensive exterior damage.
Investigations into the cause of the blaze, which took firefighters four hours to extinguish, are ongoing.
Abdul, 50, a driver from Bayview, had rented out the property.
The current tenants had been living there for four years, and were not at home at the time.
According to Abdul, the fire originated from a shed on the property, which had allegedly been built by the tenant.
“The cause of the fire has not yet been established but the fire started in a shed, which was built on our property without consent. It was a wooden structure with a tin roof, which stored a generator, fuel and other electrical supplies since the tenant is an electrician.”
He added that the fire department had ruled out the home’s electrical distribution board as the source of the blaze.
“We are still waiting for reports but the fire department told us that it had nothing to do with our DB Box because it was still fully intact when he checked. The fire came from the shed,” he said.
The fire caused extensive damage to the exterior of the house.
“There was some significant damage to the exterior walls, windows, rafters and gutters. All the belongings in the shed were destroyed and the tenant’s car, unfortunately, was burnt.”
At the time of the incident, Abdul and his wife were at work.
“It was only our second day back to work when we saw a message on the group about the fire. My wife rushed from Umbilo to pick me up in Sherwood, and in the process got pulled over for speeding.”
By the time they arrived at the property, firefighters had contained the blaze.
“But it took four hours to completely put it off.”
The incident has been emotionally distressing for the family, as the house holds deep sentimental value.
“That is my family home. We left it 12 years ago and put it on rent. Our family of six lived in that home and my children grew up there. We were upset by what happened.”
Abdul also expressed concern over the financial implications, as the house was uninsured.
“We are worried about repairs and finances. The house is not insured. But we are glad no one was hurt. We are not experts, so we will have to wait for the report to come out to know what happened.”
The investigations into the cause of the fire is ongoing.