Boy, 7, dies in house fire

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy was burnt to death in a house at Endeavour, Chaguanas, on Wednesday night. The fire occurred after his parents had left him and his four siblings at home while they went out to buy  hamburgers for the family.

Jason Lawrence became afraid when he saw smoke and fire around him and he hid under a bed. Not even coaxing from his elder brother could persuade him to come out and in the end the other children had to run out of the house and leave him. Jason, a 2nd Year pupil of Orange Valley Government School, did not usually stay at his family’s home at Endeavour Road, Chaguanas, but stayed with his half sister, Sherena Jokhan, at Orange Valley, Carapichaima. He was spending the Easter school vacation with his parents, Fabien and Rohanie Lawrence and his siblings, Bryan, 13, Ryan, 10, Adreal, 9 and Joanna, 5.

Recalling the tragedy yesterday at his aunt’s home at Coconut Drive, Brian, a pupil of Endeavor Hindu School, recalled that around 10.30 pm his mother and father told him that they were going for burgers and would be back shortly. He said his home was not supplied with electricity and his parents left a lighted candle on a table in the bedroom. “I was sleeping and the smoke woke me up. The candle fell on the table and a box with candles and a blanket caught fire. The plastic was burning too. I woke up everybody (brothers and sister) and I got water and tried to put out the fire, but nothing was happening,” he said. By this time, he recalled, the curtains were already burning. He said Jason became afraid and hid under the bed. “I could not get him out. I feel really bad. I miss my brother,” the teenager said, as he bowed his head. Around 10.50 pm, Geeta Agostini, 42, who lived next door saw the fire and she called her 25-year-old son, Richard. The two of them ran inside the burning house to help save the children.

Agostini said Bryan was already out of the house, but the four other children were still inside. After ensuring the three children were safely out, Agostini said, she called out to Jason and got a glimpse of his head, under the bed. “But the house was surrounded in fire and I could not get to him,” she said. Agostini said she even tried throwing water to put out the fire to get to the child but it did not work. Jason had to be left alone inside the burning building. By the time the fire fighters arrived at the scene and brought the fire under control, Jason, also known as “Marcus” or “Marky” was burnt beyond recognition.

When the children’s parents returned home, Agostini told Newsday, the mother fainted and the father broke down in tears. Another neighbour, Shamti Sooknanan, 27, who lived next door, said she and her husband soaked their own house with water as a precautionary measure. “Some of the windows were shattered because of the heat and the wall was scorched,” she said of her home. When Newsday visited Jason’s home yesterday at Orange Valley, his half-sister Sherena Jokhan and other relatives were in grief at the boy’s death. Describing him as a loving and willing child who was loved by everyone who knew him, Sherena said Jason was expected to return home on Sunday for school the following day. “This is his home. We all loved him. We took him when he was a baby because he was so cute and we were lonely here by ourselves. Marky loved to go to church. This is so sad,” she sobbed.

Trying to hold back the tears, Sherena said she would be arranging to have the funeral service at her home. Investigators said value of the house and household articles was estimated at $50,000. Visiting the scene was a party of officers of the Chaguanas Fire Service, Chaguanas CID and Homicide Bureau, led by Snr Supt Kamona and Fire officer, Ag SSO Remy, including Sgt Clarke, Cpl Sylvester, WPC Rodeny Neptune and PC Reed.