Cape Town - Selfless father-of-three Andrew Jantjies had been helping fight fires in the mountains near his Ocean View home for five years, but on Wednesday night he collapsed and died while out battling a blaze.
A Disaster Risk Management volunteer, Jantjies, 44, died while fighting the fire in Slangkop, Kommetjie.
He was helping fit fire hoses together late last night when he collapsed and died of a suspected heart attack.
An hour of CPR could not resuscitate him, and he was declared dead on arrival at False Bay Hospital.
Jantjies’ eldest son Rueben Arendse, 26, this morning said his father was an inspiration to all around him.
“He was a brilliant leader, not just to us but to everyone he came into contact with. He would always smile and make you smile, even if you are going through tough times.”
In a cellphone message to his family this morning, a colleague described speaking to Jantjies before he left to fight the fire.
“You know guys, Kurt and I were at the fire last night, he came to talk to us while in his fire fighting gear.
“He said: ‘Looks like I’ll be fighting fires all night.’ I then asked, ‘What about work tomorrow?’ His response: ‘Well, they must just wait till I get there.’ Then as we left, he waved as he was putting his helmet on, with that smile of his, what a way to remember him by.
“How fitting that he died while doing generous deeds he always used to involve himself in and always gave 110 percent. He will be missed dearly. That walk, that smile, that wave.”
Jantjies had been volunteering as a firefighter for about five years, while still doing his day job as a paralegal attorney.
“He had a passion for helping the community,” Arendse said. “When there was a fire and the sirens went off, he just wanted to go.”
His wife of 20 years, Velda, was in tears this morning.
“He got the call early yesterday (Wednesday), but he went to church first, then came home to fetch his clothes. We weren’t worried. He loved doing it. We just always prayed that he came back safe.”
Jantjies is survived by his wife Velda and two sons, aged 26 and 20, and a 16-year-old daughter.
The Slangkop fire broke out barely a day after firefighters and volunteers fought to quell the flames that raged across Signal Hill on Tuesday evening.
City fire chief Theo Layne said the Slangkop fire did not do any damage to property and no other injuries were reported, but that it was difficult to contain.
“The fire burnt high up on the slopes, mostly inaccessible to ground crews,” he said. “And the helicopters don’t fly at night.”
Layne said the crews did a lot of monitoring, to make sure the fire did not reach nearby houses.
The spate of four large fires in the past week raised concerns about arson, but Layne said the cause of fires was always difficult to determine when it’s a vegetation blaze.
“Any small fire in the south-easter is going to result in what happened last night, so the cause is really undetermined.”
The financial scope of the firefighting operations will be revealed in a few weeks, once the officer in charge has compiled a full report and cost analysis.
Cape Argus