Siyavuya Mzantsi
A Mitchells Plain grandmother who died when her house caught fire yesterday has been described as a soft-hearted “people’s person” who was always willing to lend a helping hand.
Charlotte Felix’s two grandsons – William, 19, and two-year-old Cody Michaels – escaped death, and are recovering at the Tygerberg and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s hospitals respectively.
Felix’s other grandson, Reuben, 24, escaped unharmed, but has been left shaken by the incident.
The pensioner’s daughter, Marion, who suffers from asthma, said she and the neighbours tried in vain to save her mother, 77, but the blaze was unstoppable.
Early yesterday morning, she was awoken by a thick smoke from a fire apparently caused by a candle that was left burning in their Cornflower Street house in Lentegeur.
“We did not have fittings for the globes and we used candles. I just smelt something and I woke up to go downstairs. Half along the stairs my son (William) was trying to help his granny, but he couldn’t, the smoke was thick.”
Marion Felix ran downstairs and out of the back door calling for help. She returned with neighbours, who tried to get into the house, but by then the fire had spread upstairs.
“My son tried to kick the door open but couldn’t and he was shouting, and my mother was shouting the whole time, but nobody could help.
“They came, but after a while we stopped hearing their voices. The fire people came and they took Cody out first and then my son.
“After a while, they brought my mother out. The fire was not that big. It was in one room. Once we got out, we shouted for my mother to get out. I don’t even know where we are going to sleep tonight,” she said.
Felix’s family had a surprise birthday party last month to celebrate her 77th birthday. Her sister, Audrey Phillips, said her death has left a wound in her heart.
“She was my only sister and we were very close. She was very soft-hearted and generous in all her ways. People used to come here and ask for help and she would give.
“She was very generous in giving, and everybody is talking about her and the way she was. She was very churchly,” said Phillips.
The City’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson, Liezl Moodie, said firefighters responded to the fire at 5.33am yesterday. She said the fire destroyed one house, and one adult male and a male minor were treated for smoke inhalation.
Police spokesperson Andre Traut said the 77-year-old succumbed to smoke inhalation after she was trapped inside the burning house. An inquest docket has been registered and is being investigated.