Kimberley - A Galeshewe family that lost two family members in a fire less than a year ago were forced to relive the trauma following another fire at their home this week.
A candle that was knocked over started the blaze that gutted a room inside the home of Kedisaletse Thure on Monday night.
The latest incident comes after Thure’s 21-year-old daughter, Mpho Jackson, and her cousin’s four-year-old son, Jayden Scheepers, died in a shack fire at the back of Thure’s house in September last year.
Jackson’s husband, Tshepo, was charged following the incident.
Thure said yesterday that her family relived their traumatic ordeal after a candle, which was knocked over by her six-year-old grandchild, set the children’s bedroom alight earlier this week.
Thure said that although the fire in the bedroom was an accident, it brought back the horrors of the earlier fire that claimed the lives of her daughter and four-year-old Jayden..
“We were watching television when my six-year-old grandchild said she wanted to go to bed. She went inside the bedroom alone. We saw the flames while she was inside and hurriedly ran to get water to extinguish the fire. The child was so traumatised that she could not scream or cry she just stood still. The other younger children started crying. My daughter’s two-year-old, who was also in the earlier shanty fire, was screaming uncontrollably as we tried to put out the fire,” Thure said.
She said that neighbours assisted in putting out the fire.
“I was also afraid and the memories from last year’s tragic incident came flashing back. My neighbours helped us and we called the fire brigade and police.”
Thure said that no one was injured during the incident. “Despite the emotional scars, I am relieved that none of us were hurt. The children have lost all their clothes and school books. Some of the furniture as well as the bedding in their room was burnt. I went to the school to explain that the children’s school uniforms and books were destroyed in the blaze,” she sighed.
Thure requested church leaders and community members to assist the family. “We ask the community to stand with us in this ordeal and for divine intervention from the churches. We have struggled to come to terms with the manner in which Mpho died and the latest fire made it evident that we are still not close to making peace with the incident,” she said
Galeshewe police spokesperson Captain Bashaobile Kale said no case was opened.
“There was no case opened as there was no intention to cause damage. The incident was an accident,” Kale said.