The fire at the City rental unit at Pam Court caused panic in Manenberg on Monday as residents came out to help extinguish the blaze.
Shortly after 11am, thick clouds of black smoke billowed from the building and hung for hours over the area.
When the Daily Voice arrived on the scene, a gang fight between the Hard Livings and Ghetto Kids had broken out.
“Is julle j** om so aan te gaan? Gaan help daai vrou, haar huis brand uit, ” a woman shouted at them.
Manenberg police and Metro Police arrived on the scene to break up the fight and the City’s Fire and Rescue Services were called to the scene.
The mother, Ayesha Scott, stood outside as residents gathered hosepipes and buckets of water to put out the flames.
“I was just sitting in the room with my sister and my baby when we saw the smoke. I picked up Anaarah and just ran. We don’t know how the fire started because ... nothing was on,” she says.
FORTUNATE: Ayesha Scott and her two-month-old child, Anaarah, escaped their burning flat
Some residents could be seen removing furniture that survived the blaze to the centre of Pam Court.
The mother lost all her personal belongings, including clothes, in the fire.
Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson, Theo Layne, says it took firefighters just over an hour to extinguish the blaze.
He says the flat directly above the mother’s flat was damaged in the fire while flats on either side had minor water damage.
“The fire was reportedly started by a four-year-old child that was playing with matches or a lighter. A bed was set alight and the fire spread.”