Malvern family faces tragedy after fire claims home and puppies
Willem and Johanna Uitslag are piecing together their lives after a fire ripped through their home in Malvern on Wednesday.
Image: Leon Lestrade / Independent Newspapers.
A Malvern family is piecing together their lives after a fire destroyed their home along with three puppies on Wednesday.
Willem Uitslag, the tenant, said it was the strength of God that helped him escape the fire after the roof collapsed while he was rescuing puppies from his room.
Uitslag, his wife Johanna, and his father-in-law Louie were on the porch of the old wood and iron home when they saw smoke coming out of the room. Their 15-year-old son Willem Junior was in another room.
Uitslag said that within a matter of minutes, the house was engulfed in flames. Uitslag said he immediately rushed into the house to get his son out to safety. Willem said he realised that his dogs were also inside one of the rooms and re-entered the home while the fire was spreading.
The family has a Dachshund, a Rottweiler, a Great Dane and two Pitbulls. They had nine Rottweiler puppies inside a basket in their room. Three of the puppies died in the house.
'The smoke was overwhelming and the flames spread very quickly. I could not grab anything or try to salvage our possessions. I got into the room where the pups were and grabbed six of them. The roof then collapsed above me. I passed the puppies to a family member through the window. I was stuck inside. I then grabbed hold of the burglar bars, shook them loose and made my escape. God gave me the strength,' Willem said.
The family had been renting the home for the past two years.
On Thursday, the family were salvaging tools they could find among the ashes so that Willem could continue earning an income as a mechanical fitter.
Johanna was emotional about losing her mother's ashes which were kept in an Urn in the lounge. Her mother had died on 23 March 2025 and she was planning to scatter the ashes in Port Shepstone next week.
The family had been accommodated by a relative on Wednesday. They are uncertain about their future. Johanna was concerned over her father's health after he lost his medication for Asthma and nebulizer.
'We have lost everything. We stood in the rain and watched the house perish before us. The only clothes we have are what's on our backs and on the clothes-line. We are grateful for the donations of clothes and blankets we received from the community. My child needs to get back to school. His books and clothes are in ashes,' she said.
Kevin Pillay Malvern Community Policing Forum Chairperson (CPF), said in terms of community relief any disaster activates the entire community.
"The CPF will continue to play a role in whatever they can to assist. We did try and accommodate the family at the trauma centre for the night but they were taken in by their family," he said.
eThekwini Municipality ward 63 councillor Chris Van de Berg said he notified disaster management about the incident.
Durban Fire Divisional Commander Narend Birjalal said when they arrived at the scene they found one formal house well alight. Birjalal said two rescue pumps, a water carrier and command vehicle with 10 firefighters attended the scene.
'One male was treated for minor injuries. Six puppies were rescued. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The entire house was engulfed in the fire under control in 15 minutes,' Birjalal said.
zainul.dawood@inl.co.za
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