Francois Stemmet, who owned a home two houses away from Krejcir, said it was ironic that almost all the houses in the complex were completely destroyed, but Krejcir’s remained standing.

Stemmet’s house was burnt to ashes, while the house between his and Krejcir’s was partially burnt.

There was no activity outside the Krejcir household on Monday which was serene and undisturbed by the blaze.

The Czech fugitive is currently behind bars and faces a string of charges in separate matters.

He has already been found guilty of an attempted murder and drug smuggling charge and was due to be sentenced soon.

Stemmet told News24 that he was just minutes away from the complex when he received a call on Sunday, telling him that his house was on fire.

The heart surgeon rushed to the scene where he found that his home was already engulfed in flames.

Stemmet was able to save a few small electrical appliances but told New24 he regretted that he did not go for painting on a wall which was worth R300 000.

About 20 houses were destroyed by the fire which is alleged to have been sparked by the explosion of a gas canister.

Expensive cars, jet skis, quad bikes, furniture and the thatched roof homes were all reduced to rubble, ash and melted tin.

The damages bill is is estimated to be around R100m.

Hardly any of the home owners were there on Monday afternoon. It is believed that the houses were mostly used as weekend and holiday homes.

One person was reported to have been injured in the blaze.

While the flames were completely extinguished on Monday morning, smoke continued to rise from the fire-ravaged logs which once held up houses.

Only the frames of jet skis, boats and quad bikes remained after also catching fire during the disaster on Sunday.

The pungent smell of fire hung in the air of the once green, lush area. Patches of black could be seen on some of the vegetation which survived the flames.

Llewelyn Botha, who lives across from the complex, told News24 that firefighters took a while to respond to the scene.

When they finally arrived on the scene, the water they had soon ran out and they battled to douse the flames, he said.

Metsimaholo municipality spokesperson Gino Alberts said earlier the fire was being investigated and the municipality would only comment once the report was completed.