Our human angels

KNYSNA: Remembering the 2017 fires - Dee and Peter Holley, Knysna:

We evacuated from Templeman Drive at about 17:30 convinced that our home was going to burn down as the fire was so close.

Imagine our total relief and shock when we returned on Thursday morning to find ours was the first house standing as eleven houses to our left and all the houses along one side of McClelland Circle were destroyed.

We then discovered that our neighbour diagonally across the road, Francois Jansen and his son, had saved our home. They had seen the fire coming up from the Eastford side. They opened the taps on the Jojo tanks of the house directly opposite them and saved that house from severe damage.

They then saw that our wooden deck and the two sets of steps into the garage and the garden were ablaze. Francois used the only plastic pot plant in our garden standing next to the burning deck and put out the fire by scooping water from the adjacent pool.

Human angel Francois Jansen.

After the fire… Photos: Supplied

His son extinguished the fire at the other end of the deck by using a hosepipe. Although the deck itself was not badly burnt our curtains in the house were actually singed from the heat.

We have no doubt in our minds that these two amazing men saved our house from burning down. Thank goodness this deed of untold bravery also saved their house from serious damage. Yes, there are human angels that we have to thank forever.

Deck steps after the fire.