Three incredible men helped prevent the spread of a building fire in Sea Point; off-duty security guard Miso Soyisile, on-duty guard Siyabonga Zimoshile and building manager Ashraf Abrahams saved the day!
Sea Point, South Africa (25 April 2023) – A residential building in Sea Point was recently evacuated after a stove, which had been accidentally left on when loadshedding hit, caught fire. The fire was seen from the street by an off-duty security guard who was able to raise the alarm. With colleagues, the security guard was able to successfully get everyone to safety and work towards putting out the blaze.
Building resident Taylea du Toit reached out to share the tale of three incredible men that saved their building from going up in flames. She shared that Siyabonga Zimoshile, Miso Soyisile and Ashraf Abrahams played vital roles in saving lives and putting out the fire.
The fire took place on the 18th of April 2023. Miso Soyisile was off-duty, on his way out to lunch when he noticed the fire coming from a window on the third floor. He stopped in his tracks, turned on his heel and ran for the building without a moment’s hesitation. Siyabonga Zimoshile was the on-duty security man, he ran to get building manager Ashraf Abrahams and the three men started evacuating the building.
They called the fire service and while the building was calmly evacuated, the men started trying to put out the blaze that was quickly forming.
“We also have a lot of elderly residents in our building, and the care each one of them took to make sure they were safe is truly remarkable.” – Taylea du Toit
The fire department arrived and helped take control of the fire. They also assisted the elderly and other residents with the continued evacuation. Many people were trapped on the higher levels as the fire had damaged one of the elevators. Thankfully, due to the fast action by Miso, Siyabonga and Ashraf, the damage was mostly contained to the third floor of the building.
The smoke damage affected most of the building, but that is the worst of the damage faced by the residents. Taylea explained that they were allowed to return to their apartments after 4 hours, and many families reunited with those who couldn’t get out.
As most of the evacuated residents had luggage and personal items with them, Ashrad spent time helping each of them carry their things back home. He made the trek up 14 flights of stairs over and over, making sure each resident was safely back in their home.
“I think the overwhelming sentiment from all residents was intense gratitude and respect. There can be beauty in tragedy when you see people show up so incredibly fearlessly and selflessly. I personally was so humbled watching them try and keep us and our homes safe whilst we awaited the fire department. They remained equal parts calm as they did brave and I will forever be grateful.” – Taylea du Toit
Miso, Siyabonga and Ashraf are heroes! They have definitely earned new titles in the eyes of each of the people they helped.
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