Hip hop icon and activist DJ Ready D and his family were hit by a major loss when their Cape Town home caught fire, damaging his cars, vinyl and living space on his property.
DJ Ready D, whose real name is Deon Daniels, and his wife Malikah Daniels say they are grateful to be alive as the blaze wiped out their assets on October 16.
Speaking to IOL Entertainment shortly after the mysterious fire, DJ Ready D said: “The weather was perfect and me and Malikah were sitting outside and relaxing, we then decided around 11am that we want to go out.
“I was getting dressed when I got the smell of burning wires, but thought maybe it’s someone braaing. My son and Malikah came inside the house and could also smell the same thing.
“And as we were heading out the house, she told my son to take a walk around the back of the house to see if the smell wasn’t coming from there, he went and then started shouting that there is a fire in the garage.
“We noticed the blaze coming from the roof and everything started falling on Malikah’s Nissan 200SX S13, this also damaged my Nissa 200SX S14, which stood close by, but hers was completely burnt.”
DJ Ready D said the cars were used for various projects for seven years, including featuring in films and advertising campaigns, but their main use of the cars was as assets to their “Safer Roads 4All (SR4A)” campaign.
“They were specialised vehicles, with all the bells and whistles and safety components for the road safety programme, so that was our equipment for our programmes.
“We tried to put out the flames with buckets of water, but we couldn't get in there because our garage is small and the cars and stuff stored in there took extra space.
“We couldn’t open up the remote-controlled garage door because the motor was already burnt inside and this made it impossible to manually open.
“It was burning too much and we had to give up.
“Everyone was there within minutes, our friends and family and the neighbourhood watch were there to help us.”
He added: “Thankfully nobody was injured, we got our animals out in time as well.
“There comes a point where you just have to walk away and accept that you could lose everything in that fire.
“I could hear the tyres popping, car batteries exploding etc, and so it was heartbreaking.”
DJ Ready D’s son lives in the now damaged living space on the property.
The Goodhope FM DJ said the vinyl he lost in the fire was a valuable asset.
“Those vinyl’s were really special, I collected them for 35 years from places all over the world.
“All genres, its probably the most rare vinyl collections owned by a DJ, globally, because I was blessed to have received that vinyl while touring with Prophets of the City.”
Even though the couple have insurance, they say it’s the years of passion and dedication put into building the cars and collections that can never be replaced.
A day after the fire, the family had another surprise flare-up when smouldering magazines caused another fire in the morning as the family were clearing up the debris.
City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse confirmed the incident.
“The City’s Fire and Rescue Service was alerted at approximately 11:55am of a garage alight on Sunday, October 16.
“Crews from Lakeside, Houtbay and Wynberg were on scene. Firefighters managed to contain the fire before it spread to the same property dwelling. A large collection of vinyl records were also destroyed.
“The garage and one motor vehicle were destroyed, while a second vehicle sustained partial damage. Two adult males were treated on scene for smoke inhalation – by Metro personnel. However, they did not go to hospital for further treatment.
“The adjacent garage was converted into a bedroom and sustained partial damage.
“The cause of the blaze is yet to be determined.”