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Motorists stranded in peak hour traffic after car caught fire in William Nicol Drive

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Natasha Bezuidenhout

Hundreds of motorists were stranded in peak hour traffic on Friday morning when a section of William Nicol Drive road was blocked by a burning car.

Gill Knight was on her way to work and had just passed Sandton Drive when she smelt petrol. “The traffic was very bad at the time. I thought the smell was coming from a truck in the road,” she said.
As Knight passed the Second Avenue turnoff in Hyde Park motorists driving next to her alerted her that her car was on fire. “I heard a loud bang and didn’t know that the car was on fire. I immediately stopped and walked behind the car where I saw a flame below the car.”
While she stood on the side of the road she heard more bangs coming from her Fiat Uno and saw her car go up in flames.
“I was shaking at the time and am just grateful to the men who helped me,” she said.
Terry Knight, her husband, was at work at the time and immediately rushed to his wife’s side after she tearfully phoned from the side of the road.
“I couldn’t hear her properly on the phone. She was crying and I told her to get out of the car at the time,” he said.
He added that the car had been in for repairs a week before the incident.
“We had some minor repairs done last week. The breaks had to be fixed and there was a problem with the fuse box,” he said.
Daniel Venter, platoon commander of the fire brigade at the scene said it had taken five to 10 minutes to extinguish the flames.
“It was tough getting through the traffic to reach the scene. Drivers are not willing to let anyone through, including a fire engine,” he said.
natashab@caxton.co.za

Published on March 5, 2010 at 1:12 pm