A fire erupted in the garage of a house in Howitzer Street at around 16:45 and quickly spread to the house.
A mother and her son, who were inside the house, managed to escape.
Hartbeespoort fire-fighting teams, the AfriForum fire unit and ERTH were quickly on the scene, later joined by HEMS Fire and Madibeng Fire.
The teams fought the blaze for an hour before it was completely extinguished. The fire destroyed the garage and adjoining bedroom, but firefighters managed to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the house.
“After the fire was extinguished, the boy came out with the family’s little Dachshund, which had sustained severe burn wounds. The little dog must have run through the fire at some stage. Its paws and stomach were burned,” said Nelis Janse van Rensburg of AfriForum.
The dog was taken to Hartbeespoort Animal Clinic, where veterinarians immediately treated the burn wounds.
“Hartbeespoort again showed how its people can stand together to help each other. Community members rallied around the shocked family, offering help, food and a place to stay. We want to thank everyone who assisted.”
Riaan Britz of ERTH echoed this. “Once again, this incident demonstrated the importance of teamwork, rapid response and cooperation between emergency services and community-based responders.”
