Themba Tshemese- Shop Fire
It was a cold Wednesday night at Malvern Fire Station. Volunteer fire fighter Themba Tshemese was on his way back from hospital duty, when he came across a burning shop. Members of the community were trying desperately to extinguish the flames using buckets of water and when they saw Themba, they informed him that a family, including a 6-month-old baby, was locked inside the burning structure.
Themba called for a fire engine, but the desperate screams of the people trapped inside moved him to take immediate action. He scanned the building for a possible place of access and decided on a weak point near the back door of the shop. Next, he removed his jacket and shirt, wet his shirt and pulled it over his mouth and nose to limit smoke inhalation.
Themba then kicked down the back door and asked a spectator to assist him in bending the door’s burglar bar (which was somewhat weakened by the fire) so that he could crawl inside.
Once inside, he took the 6 month old baby and placed the child under his wet shirt. He told the child’s mother to hold onto his ankle, told the sister to hold onto her mother’s ankle and instructed the father to form the rear guard. Themba then guided the family to the semi-bent open burglar bar where they all crawled out to safety. Themba went beyond the call of duty and risked his life to save the lives of an entire family.
