A family of ten, including an 84-year-old grandmother and a 59-year-old man confined to a wheelchair, are now homeless after fire gutted their Curepe homes on Thursday night.
Anthony Teeka was visited by councillor J-Lynn Roopnarine and given a new wheelchair yesterday, after everything he and his family owned were destroyed in the fire. Teeka was removed from the house by neighbours who saw an adjoining house ablaze.
According to fire officials, the blaze took place around 7.30 pm and started at the home at the back of the adjoining houses.
The homes, located along Jackson Street, was 90 per cent destroyed and up to yesterday parts of the houses were still falling apart. Neighbours tried unsuccessfully to out the blaze using buckets and water hoses.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian, Kamla Hamid said the incident happened so quickly they barely had any time to save any of their valuables.
Hamid said she and her family, including her ailing mother, now have nowhere to call home as there was nothing left to salvage. She lamented that the family spent the night by neighbours, but are now uncertain of how much the neighbours could assist the family.
Hamid said the family was visited by the Member of Parliament for the area Prakash Ramadhar, but both he and Roopnarine spoke with her mother. She said she was uncertain of the cause of the fire.
They are appealing for assistance in getting a home for the Christmas season. Fire officials estimated the total loss to be around $600,000.