Cape Town - Two families who live metres apart have lost their homes after a fire broke out in Pinelands.
Ebrahiem Parker said he was at his Forest Drive home when the blaze started on Tuesday afternoon.
Around the corner on Peak Drive, Hennie du Plooy received a call while on holiday with his family and heard that his house was gutted.
The incident happened around 1pm and no one could say what had caused the fire.
Parker said: “I was at home with my parents and children, and then we just saw smoke and then flames.
“We escaped unharmed but everything is gone, including my wallet.”
When the Cape Argus arrived at the house, the family were trying to salvage what they could.
“We are waiting for the insurance company and the City, so we can see how we can restore the house.
“We don’t understand how the house caught fire and then, within five minutes, another is ablaze.”
Meanwhile, Du Plooy suspects that alighted thatch from the Forest Drive house flew to his roof and ignited the dry grass.
“It’s easy with the thatch roof,” he said. “The fire can spread even if the house is 500 metres from a fire.
“My house is only 200m away from the Forest Drive house. It was unlucky that it fell on our roof.
“The house was empty for two weeks because we were on holiday. My neighbours called us and told us that our house was on fire.”
Councillor Riad Davids said this was the third fire incident in the past two weeks.
“About a week or so ago, there was a fire incident too and it wasn’t thatch.
“In total, we’ve had three fires in the Pinelands area, but all three are unrelated.
“We don’t want to speculate because we are waiting for the investigators to come back and tell us what the cause of the fire is.”
The City’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, said the call about the first house fire, in Forest Drive, Pinelands, was received at about 11.55am on Tuesday.
“Crews from Brooklyn, Epping and Goodwood were on scene for a considerable time. By 18:00, the fire was brought under control and extinguished.
“This was a thatch-roof dwelling and the entire dwelling was severely damaged. No injuries were reported and the cause is unknown.
“The second house alight, also a thatch roof, was reported at 12.50pm, of smoke issuing from the dwelling in Links Road, Pinelands.
“At 19:30, this fire was extinguished that severely damaged the dwelling. No one was injured and the cause of the fire is unknown.”