SANDVOORT’s old folks could not recall having a fire in their village, until recently, when fire razed the kitchen of Juantia Chisholm.Ms Chisolm had been baking bread in her makeshift oven, but had left her home and had gone to the village school, about a half mile away, to catch up on the neighbourhood gossip.
Approximately one hour later, just before noon, nearby residents saw smoke emanating from Ms Chisholm’s kitchen, but shouts directed at Ms Chisholm’s house went unanswered; so the neighbours formed a bucket brigade and extinguished the blaze, before throwing the stove and its contents through the door.
It was then discovered that what had seemed to be a gas stove was not fuelled at all by gas, but by two single-burner kerosene stoves which had been placed on the lower rack of the oven. It is suspected that one of the stove wicks fell out, resulting in air being sucked through the open space into the bowl of the stove. The contraption exploded with a deafening ‘BOOM!’ which, unfortunately, was not loud enough for Ms Chisholm to hear.
Fortunately, only limited damage was done to the northern and western walls of her kitchen, which were scorched.