Faulty wiring to blame for fires

SPARKING electrical wires are being blamed for two fires which destroyed two homes, rendering 12 persons, including eight children, homeless in separate incidents on Saturday. One child, six-year-old Anna Baptiste, suffered severe burns to her arms and remains warded in a stable condition at Ward 5 of the San Fernando General Hospital. The fires occurred mere hours apart at Lucky Street, La Romaine and then at Cumuto Road, Barrackpore, resulting in over $100,000 in losses. Both families are calling on TTEC to compensate them for their damage. In one incident, Civil Dowlat, 31, a housewife, reported that around 11 am she saw flames emanating from the electrical panel near her home. However, her dog began barking and she went outside to untie him. When she returned she noticed that her roof was on fire and within minutes the entire wooden structure was engulfed in flames. Dowlat, who was renting the house, lived with her husband Russel Sankar, 37, a construction mason and his uncle, Jagdeo Partap, 47. Partap lost $10,000 in cash which was hidden under a mattress. Damage to the house and household articles is estimated to be over $60,000. PC Persad of the Barrackpore Police is continuing investigations.

In the earlier incident around 2.30 am, neighbours reported seeing electrical lines sparking near the home of Joanne Thomas, who lived in the two-bedroom wooden house with her eight children, ages ranging between six to 19. At the time 19-year-old Lydia Baptiste was alone at home with her two youngest sisters. Around 2.30 pm, 19-year-old Baptiste was asleep when she was alerted by neighbours that the house was on fire. When she awoke she saw the bedroom on fire, and she immediately picked up her eight-year-old sister, Makiba, who was asleep on the same bed and threw her out of a window. She ran into the bedroom and grabbed Anna, the other sleeping child, and then ran to the kitchen and jumped through one of the windows. Anna sustained burns to her arms and head. Thomas, who is unemployed, was married to Leroy Baptiste, a retired media photographer, who died last year. San Fernando CID officers are continuing investigations.