Fire guts house in Claremont

A Claremont house, which was home to 12 people, has been gutted by fire.

The fire, on the corner of Rosmead Avenue and Chichester Road, started at around noon on Wednesday October 4 and was extinguished by about 1.20pm, according to City Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Jermaine Carelse.

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire was unknown at this stage, he said.

Ousman Saizi, 33, a security guard who had been renting a room in the house, said he had lived on the property with three families. He had lost all his possessions in the fire and was now sleeping in his car, he said.

“I am looking for a place to rent now,” he said, adding that some in the neighbourhood had given him food.

On Monday October 2, firefighters responded to an 11.30pm call-out for a fire at a retirement home in Main Road, Kenilworth.

“Firefighters located the site of the fire on the third floor as it originated in one of the apartments of Summerley Court,” said Mr Carelse.

The flat had suffered substantial damage and two adjacent flats had sustained smoke, heat and water damage, he said, adding that the fire had been put out by 12.30am and its cause was unknown.

Upper Kenilworth Improvement District operations manager Jarrod Levendal said they had helped the home’s staff to evacuate residents to the foyer where they had received medical attention.

Peter Upton, the chairman of Summerley Court’s board of trustees, said the residents had been shaken by what had happened. “We had a meeting with the residents the day after the fire to assure them that they will be safe,” he said.

“Only the one room on the third floor is damaged though we will set the resident up in a room in the frail-care section of the building.”