Members of a Stellenbosch University (SU) private student organisation (PSO) banded together in support of three students who lost their belongings when a fire destroyed their three-bedroom apartment.
This is according to Frances Bruwer, house committee member of the PSO, Capri.
Leadership figures of the PSO became aware of the incident through one of their members, Emma Forbes, said Bruwer. Forbes told MatieMedia that she is a friend of Natasha Hodge, who lost her belongings in the fire.
An apartment at the Moolmanshof complex in Stellenbosch caught fire on 2 May, according to Craig van Reenen from the Stellenbosch Fire and Rescue department. No one was harmed by the fire, as it was extinguished before it could affect other apartments in the complex, stated Van Reenen. PHOTO: Nakishka Skriker
Messages were sent on the PSO’s WhatsApp groups on the evening of the incident, and a donation drive for clothing started on the following day, claimed Bruwer.
Fire at Moolmanshof
The apartment burnt down on 2 May, at around midday, said Craig van Reenen from the Stellenbosch Fire and Rescue department, who was at the scene of the fire at the Moolmanshof complex.
The fire was extinguished before it could affect other apartments in the complex and no one was harmed, he explained.
“There was not a single thing left in my room,” said Hodge, who claims that the fire originated in her bedroom. According to Hodge, her bedroom had sustained the most damage of the three. “I was trying to grab the rubble; just trying to find something.”
Three female students who reside in Stellenbosch were affected by a recent fire that destroyed their accommodation. This is according to Natasha Hodge, former resident of the apartment. “There was not a single thing left in my room,” said Hodge, who explained that her room sustained the greatest damage from the incident. PHOTO: Supplied/Nicola McDonald
Hodge was the last person to leave the apartment the evening before the incident, and the first of the occupants of the apartment to arrive at the scene of the fire, she claimed.
The source of the fire could not be identified as it was too far advanced by the time the Stellenbosch Fire and Rescue department had arrived, according to Van Reenen.
“Our whole life was in there,” said Stephanie McDonald, another former resident of the apartment. According to McDonald, most of her clothes were unsalvageable and many of her items were damaged due to the fire and the flooding which followed as a result of the damage.
Support through student community
A donation box has meanwhile been placed in SU’s amaMaties Hub, where students of various PSOs gather, according to Bruwer. She said that she hopes to see a lot of support from the student community towards those affected, and has sent out messages to various PSO groups in order to get as many people involved in the donation drive as possible.
“I cannot thank everyone enough,” said Hodge regarding the support that she and her roommates have received.
A Stellenbosch University private student organisation has banded together to donate clothes to three female students who were affected by a recent house fire. “Nothing really was salvageable”, said Stephanie McDonald, who claimed to have lost nearly all of her clothing to the fire and the resulting flooding which occured. PHOTO: Nakishka Skriker