{"id":155090,"date":"2025-04-16T13:19:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T11:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/?p=155090"},"modified":"2025-04-16T13:19:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T11:19:27","slug":"man-dies-in-somerset-west-inferno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/man-dies-in-somerset-west-inferno\/","title":{"rendered":"Man dies in Somerset West inferno"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Somerset West police have opened an inquest docket after a fatal house fire this morning (Wednesday 16 April).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Spokesperson Sergeant Suzan Jantjies confirmed that police officers responded to the blaze at a residence in the Briza residential area at 03:40.<br>&#8220;Upon their arrival, firefighters were already on scene, where the body of a man &#8211; yet to be formally identified &#8211; was discovered among debris,&#8221; said Jantjies.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson for the City of Cape Town&#8217;s Fire and Rescue Service, an emergency call of a house alight in Louis Trichardt Street was received around 02:15. Several firefighting crews, assisted by an incident management team (IMT), responded to the incident and managed to extinguish the blaze around 05:00.<br>&#8220;The house sustained substantial damage. During a search of the property, the body of a man was found in the bedroom, where he had succumbed to fatal burn wounds. At the time of the fire, the deceased was alone in the dwelling,&#8221; said Carelse.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added that the cause of the fire remains undetermined at this stage and forms part of the police investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Jantjies confirmed that an inquest docket has been opened for further investigation into the incident and circumstances surrounding the blaze.<br>While the deceased is yet to be formally identified following an post mortem, the fire victim is believed to be the homeowner and a local businessman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><em>DistrictMail &amp; Helderberg Gazette\u00a0<\/em>visited the scene after 09:00 as curious onlookers made their way past the scene to catch a glimpse of the aftermath and gain insight into what had happened.<br>A neighbour recalled to police hearing loud bangs during the early hours of the morning and upon investigating saw huge flames from outside his balcony. &#8220;At that stage, the house was already up in flames and a large contingent of neighbours gathered outside the property before firefighters and authorities arrived on scene,&#8221; he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-further-details-will-be-reported-on-as-soon-as-it-becomes-available\">Further details will be reported on as soon as it becomes available.<\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"487\" data-attachment-id=\"155092\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/man-dies-in-somerset-west-inferno\/img_8080\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8080.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1218\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;6.3&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 2000D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1744796799&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;18&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"IMG_8080\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8080-1024x487.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8080-1024x487.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-155092\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8080-1024x487.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8080-300x143.jpg 300w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8080-768x365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8080-1320x628.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The house in Louis Trichardt Street, Somerset West, was left partially gutted following a fatal fire during the early hours of Wednesday morning (16 April). Photo: Jamey Gordon <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-attachment-id=\"155093\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/man-dies-in-somerset-west-inferno\/img_8077\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8077.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;10&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 2000D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1744796381&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;25&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0025&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"IMG_8077\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8077-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8077-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-155093\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8077-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8077-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8077-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8077-1320x880.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Somerset West police&#8217;s Warrant Officer Nolan Fisher on scene with Ward 15 councillor Gregory Peck and a community member.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"473\" data-attachment-id=\"155094\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/man-dies-in-somerset-west-inferno\/0be83b8a-22bf-4164-a_17975-1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0be83b8a-22bf-4164-a_17975-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1280,591\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0be83b8a-22bf-4164-a_17975 (1)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0be83b8a-22bf-4164-a_17975-1-1024x473.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0be83b8a-22bf-4164-a_17975-1-1024x473.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-155094\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0be83b8a-22bf-4164-a_17975-1-1024x473.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0be83b8a-22bf-4164-a_17975-1-300x139.jpg 300w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0be83b8a-22bf-4164-a_17975-1-768x355.jpg 768w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0be83b8a-22bf-4164-a_17975-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Firefighters returned to the scene to monitor flare-ups and declare the area safe. Photo: Supplied<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Somerset West police have opened an inquest docket after a fatal house fire this morning (Wednesday 16 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This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Man dies in Somerset West inferno | DistrictMail &amp; Helderberg Gazette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/man-dies-in-somerset-west-inferno\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Man dies in Somerset West inferno\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Somerset West police have opened an inquest docket after a fatal house fire this morning (Wednesday 16 April).\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/man-dies-in-somerset-west-inferno\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" 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