Durban - Days after decorating his Christmas tree, an unemployed Chatsworth firefighter, who looked forward to spending the holidays with his family, was instead dealt a crippling blow when a fire ravaged his home.
Now Jay Naidu is praying to secure a job to rebuild the shattered pieces of their lives.
“All I want for Christmas is to provide a roof over my family's heads,” said the 58-year-old father of three, who was retrenched four years ago.
He lived in a rented three bedroom house in Kharwastan, Chatsworth, with his wife, Vanitha, and 11-year-old son, Jonathan, who braved injury to help his dad put out Friday's fire.
Although devastated at losing most of their belongings, valued at around R400 000, Naidu said he was grateful his family was not inside when the fire broke out.
The insurance on his household contents, he said, was cancelled three months ago as he could not afford the instalments.
Despite the tragedy, he said in the spirit of goodwill, his landlord allowed him and his family to live in an alternate property in the interim.
Naidu and Jonathan were in the garage sorting out old toys to donate to charity when they smelt something burning.
“When I walked out, I saw flames and smoke. I dashed inside the house and tried to put out the fire but it was spreading like wildfire. Jonathan grabbed the garden hose and followed me inside. He could see I was battling to breath, found a cloth, made it wet and handed it to me to cover my mouth,” said Naidu.
As the fire grew in intensity, he ran around to salvage what he could.
“I only managed to get the freezer out the kitchen. The microwave was already melting.”
Despite sustaining burns to his arms and back, Naidu remained undeterred and managed to get the sofas outside, while his son waited anxiously for him.
“Before I could get to the TV, the fire surged through the lounge and I knew I had to get out.”
Neighbours, he said, had alerted the fire department.
“There was nothing much that could be done. I was just glad no one was inside. The person that really outdone himself was my son. He knew to grab the garden hose and wet the cloth for me.”
Naidu, who has two adult children, said they had just decorated their home with a Christmas tree and tinsel and planned on hosting a luncheon on Christmas day.
He said an electrical fault in his bedroom air-conditioner could have caused the fire.
The operations divisional commander at the eThekwini Fire Department, Justin Bateman, said the cause had not yet been ascertained.
Naidu worked as a fireman for five years and thereafter as a payroll administrator in the human resource department for two decades.
The property's landlord could not be reached for comment.