Cape Town - Man’s best friend proved true to the saying after a four-year-old dog saved his owner from danger when he alerted him to a fire.
Buccaneer scratched at the window, barked uncontrollably and banged against the corrugated iron structure until his owner woke up and noticed the fire outside their shack in Philippi on Wednesday night.
Themba Mashiyi was asleep when he was woken by his dog at about 11.30pm, to see a fire that had already burnt two shacks just outside his home.
“We heard the dog making a noise outside and barking non-stop and we just kept telling it to keep quiet, but it wouldn’t listen. Eventually I had to get out of bed and when I looked outside the window I saw the flames.”
Mashiyi said had it not been for his dog the damage to his shack, which was only singed on the side, could have been much worse.
“If it wasn’t for the noise he was making it would have been harder to get up and we may have gotten up too late. It was a big fire but because we (neighbours) helped each other we were able to extinguish the fire before the fire brigade got here.”
Two shacks were burnt to the ground while Mashiyi’s and a few others were slightly burnt.
Mashiyi, who shares the shack with his girlfriend and her nephew, said they moved some of their belongings outside, but thieves stole some of their goods.
Mashiyi said among the stolen goods were a music system, a TV, his identity document and a sack of potatoes.
“It was chaotic and dark and they used the narrow passageways to get away. They also stole things from some of the other neighbours. But we are glad we are okay and still have our house.”
Fire and rescue spokesman Theo Layne was not able to confirm the fire, but urged residents to be more careful because “no fire starts on its own and by being responsible many of them can be prevented”.
Cape Argus