The Middelburg Observer of Friday 13 April featured a nasty home invasion experienced by a mother and daughter. Their Trellidor security gate in the passage saved them from further trauma and is a reminder to all of us to create a safe area at home.
Here are some tips on what to do
The newspaper article (Ganghek Stuit Inbrekers, Middelburg Observer, Friday 13 April) detailed how the two women were alone at night in their house, sleeping, when they heard intruders in the living area. Fortunately they had a security gate in their passage which the intruders were unable to break through to get to the women, despite their best attempts.
The mother and daughter said they owed their lives to Trellidor (Ons het ons lewens to danke aan die Trellidor). The security gate held so fast that the women’s rescuers (members of the Hendrina Radio Eienaars Forum) had quite a job to forcibly cut the gate open to let them out.
Trellidor Middelburg sales manager Jeremy Montgomery sent Trellidor Technician Bill Lambert out to temporarily repair the gate the next day.
This incident shows how important it is to have a safe area in your home.
A safe zone is a section of your home that is completely secured with the best home security systems you can afford. It is a place where you can sleep easily at night or lock yourself into if intruders get in.
Here are some Trellidor tips for creating secure safe rooms in your house:
- Select an area to secure completely. This is usually the bedroom wing.
- Fit reliable barriers on every single external door and window, even if it’s on the second floor.
- Fit a barrier in the passage or at the stairway to the second floor. This could be a sliding security gate such as a Trellidor Retractable unit, a roller shutter such as Trellidor Rollerstyle, or a security screen door such as Trellidor Clear Guard.
- Install a sliding burglar guard (i.e. one that can open) on at least one window in the safe area to use as an escape route if necessary, particularly if there’s a fire. All of the Trellidor ranges mentioned above have window burglar guards that open.
- Lock your passage/stairway gate when you go to bed at night to avoid a nasty surprise.
- Don’t leave security gate keys lying around where home invaders can find them.
- Make sure you have a cell phone with you so that you can call for help if necessary.
- Have emergency numbers programmed into your phone so that they’re easy to find in a panic.
The Middelburg family was part of a neighbourhood watch (Hendrina Radio Eienaars Forum). It’s a good idea to belong to something similar, especially in isolated areas, so that help can get to you quickly in an emergency.
