Aiming to save
WENDYWOOD – Private security officers go beyond the call of duty to extinguish a fire.
A speedy response by 7Arrows security officers, Obed Mahlase and Ignitius Pheko, helped contain a fire which broke out at a residence in Wendywood on 16 August.
“You can never imagine it happening to you,” said neighbour Jodi Gordon. After being woken up by thick smoke and loud cracking noises, Gordon’s initial thought was that it was a bad thunderstorm. However, once she heard her son shouting ‘fire’, panic spread through the Gordon household. The fire had engulfed her neighbour’s lapa which is situated only 3m away from the family home.
“When you see fire move, you know it’s not going to just stop by itself. I will never forget how shocking it was to look out of my window and see a wall of bright orange flames about to consume my family and my home, we were terrified for our lives,” said Gordon.
After receiving a panic alarm from Gordon, the 7Arrows Security control room dispatched the two officers to the scene. On arrival, they were met with a roaring fire that had engulfed the entire lapa and garden area. Using buckets filled with water, Pheko and Mahlase tirelessly attended to the blaze along with members of the community, and within 30 minutes the fire was under control before emergency services arrived.
“At around 3am in the morning, we got a call from our control room asking us to respond urgently to a panic signal,” said Mahlase.
“We quickly realised how big the fire was and that the residents in the house were not aware of it and still asleep. It came naturally to both of us to jump in and help with putting out the fire as it was apparent it wasn’t going to stop and was life threatening.”
Gordon said, “I cannot thank 7Arrows enough, the two guards who responded were amazing and were not only front and centre in putting out the fire, but showed such care towards myself and my two children. They not only reacted immediately but made my family’s well-being their absolute priority.”
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and is currently being investigated by the Sandton Fire Department.
