MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Elaine Diesel never imagined her life could change the way it did on Monday, when her house in Hartenbos Heights burnt down.
Had she had an inkling, she would have packed her computer and photos before she left for work that morning.
Elaine said she was at work at Hartenbos Primary and had no idea a fire was raging between Menkenkop and Hartenbos Heuwels. When she left the school at 12:00 to attend a meeting, she noticed the smoke and realised it was coming from close to where her house was.
"My immediate concern was for my dog to be saved. We leave doors open for him but I was worried about his safety." Her husband Richard was away on business in Plettenberg Bay and she had difficulty reaching him by telephone. She called her daughter and son-in-law and they rushed from George to assist her.
"I could not get to my home," Elaine said. Members of the neighbourhood watch had blocked off roads into the area for the safety of residents. "At first it looked as if it was another house that was burning; I couldn't fathom what was going on."
Her son-in-law went to the house to try to find her dog, a little dachshund, only about three years old. Then someone came and asked for the keys to the house. "It was only when the roof collapsed that I fully comprehended the gravity of the situation." The dog was saved by firefighting crew members Mario Meyer, Burnitt Laufs and Daniel Dippenaar. Mario handed the dog to Elaine.
She said she kept on praying that her husband would answer his phone but he only arrived after the firefighters had left the scene.
"I was overjoyed when they found my dog."
She thanks friends, family, colleagues and even strangers for the support and help the family has received. "We now live from moment to moment. We are staying with my daughter and her family - hers is my only grandchild. We are feeling numb, but we experience God being with us."
Elaine said they had been to their home since the fire. "If things had been different I would have taken my computer with me that morning; I would have liked to have saved my photos."
Read a related article here: Mossel Bay fire contained
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