Ten people, including two children and an elderly widower were left homeless following what fire officials suspect as a case of arson at a Morvant warehouse.
According to fire officials the blaze took place around 2 am at the warehouse once owned by Y De Lima & Co along Second Caledonia, Morvant. The warehouse was a storage place for used tyres and the tyres were still on fire when the T&T Guardian visited the scene some ten hours later.
Fire officers said they tried to put out the blaze from arrival to around 2 pm yesterday but were hampered at one time due to a lack of water. Fire officials used both water and foam to out the blaze.
Two houses were caught in the blaze, one a two storey shared by several families, was completely destroyed, while the other suffered minimal damage. Damage has been estimated to be approximately $3 million.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian at the scene yesterday, three of the affected women, all Jamaican nationals, said they managed to escape with little more than the clothes on their backs while the bulk of their belongings were destroyed.
One woman, Angella Burton, said she was awakened by her daughter, Princess, who awoke to tea and realised there was a fire. Burton said she grabbed her child and some clothes and ran out the house trying to alert the other residents.
Another woman, Debbie Row, said: “I lost everything. I was planning to return to Jamaica next week after five years and I buy up a whole set ah thing. The only thing I save was my passport and ticket. I lost US$2000, TT$3,500 that was sou-sou money and TT$500 I had for myself.”
Row added that the owner of the house, Lincoln Charles, suffered the loss of his wife close to a month ago and was now homeless. She said she fell and injured her left ankle and right leg fleeing the burning building. Next door, two cars were damaged by the fire and the owner, identified as “Ras” lost electricity in his home. “Ras”, the T&T Guardian was told, has offered to house the family until they can be helped further. The women said they were in need of assistance and at least a place to sleep until that can get back on their feet.
Contacted yesterday, MP for the area, Adrian Leonce, said he heard of the incident around 6 am yesterday but had a prescheduled meeting with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. Leonce said he spoke with the councillor for the area and had the Office of Disaster and Preparedness Management contacted to render assistance to them.