A feeling that she should offer a mother and her daughter a place to sleep for the night has seen Korsten resident Lena Jacobs credited with saving the family’s lives after their home went up in flames yesterday.
Nicole September, 21, and her daughter Loriaan, 5, have Jacobs, 41, to thank for their lives after their home in Boston Street, Korsten, caught fire at about 5am.
Jacobs said although space was limited in her own home, with her husband and two children living in a small outbuilding, “something told me just to take them for tonight [Tuesday night]”.
Nelson Mandela Bay spokesman Kupido Baron said the cause of the fire remained unclear because the municipal fire department only investigated if an owner requested it.
Jacobs, a friend of the September family who lives in a neighbouring street, said she was grateful she was able to help and prayed that the family would be able to arrange alternative accommodation.
“These children have nothing and no family left to help.
“Their mother passed away in 2015 and their grandmother is in an old-age home.“I can’t explain why I decided to step in last night, I just had this nagging feeling to help.
“But there is no place in my house for them to live here forever.
“I will be able to provide them with a temporary place but my house is small and already too full. I just pray the councillor or someone can help,” Jacobs said.
Standing next to the charred remains of her two-bedroomed home, September – who is unemployed – said she had been living in the house her entire life.
“I was sleeping when we heard all the commotion in the street. We went outside and people told me it was my house that was burning,” September said.
“The structure was already in a bad condition as it was mainly made from zinc roof sheets and wood, but after my mother passed [away] in 2015 we did not have money to maintain the house.
“It was my family home which burnt down and it was our only home. I am unemployed and we have no family we can turn to. Lena has been a Godsend but we can’t live there forever.”
Baron said no injuries had been reported. The fire was extinguished within an hour of the emergency call at 6.42am.
“With regard to the displaced residents, they are more than welcome to approach the local councillor for assistance,” Baron said.
“As is the case in such incidents the municipality usually steps in to assist, particularly if residents are destitute.”
September’s grandmother and owner of the property, Sharon Groenewald, 65, said: “I don’t have insurance on that house because it was basically an informal shack. The land itself is the thing of value.”
Groenewald said she would not be requesting an investigation.