The blaze broke out around daybreak.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah Tutu thanked staff at their Onrus retirement village home, near Hermanus.

The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation in a statement said that the couple did not sustain any injuries.

The Tutus praised staff and the local fire department as “unsung heroes, on whose courage one leans in the most difficult circumstances".

It’s believed that the fire was started by a faulty gas heater but the exact cause is still unknown.

EWN