Fire guts two storey house

Twenty-one persons, including a baby and two children ages six and seven, were rendered homeless yesterday when fire broke out around 11 am at a two-storey house on Harris Street, Trou Macaque, Laventille. They 21 now face a bleak and uncertain start to their new year, since they lost everything in the fire, except the clothes on their backs. Christmas drinks, freshly baked fruit cake, toys, cash and other valuables all went up in flames, when the fire started in the lower part of the house.

Some of the occupants of the house claimed that the fire was maliciously set, but this was disputed by fire officers on the scene who said that initial tests revealed that an exploded gas tank may have caused the blaze. The damage to property and the valuables inside the fire-ravaged house, are yet to be estimated. Police officers have not linked the fire yesterday to Wednesday’s other two fires at Laventille, which left 11 others homeless. Investigators believe that the two fires at Richardson Lane and Thomas Lane on Wednesday at Laventille, were deliberately set to silence potential witnesses to a recent murder. According to an eyewitness, a loud explosion was heard around 11 am and smoke was later seen coming from the kitchen of one of the apartments occupied by one of three families.

Eileen Harley, 55, the mother of six, said she was inside the house when she saw fire spreading rapidly. She raised an alarm and ran out of the house, which was already engulfed by flames. The distressed woman claimed that she had been living in the house for the past 37 years, and that she has never had any problems with neighbours or any gang members. She added that she has lived a peaceful life, but maintained that the fire may have been maliciously set. Comforted by a neighbour as she sat on a stone step opposite her burnt out home, Harley said she was unsure of her future. She lost everything in the fire and was unsure how to pick up the pieces and move on. Other persons rendered homeless by the fire expressed shock at their predicament and called on the Government to render assistance so that they may  put their lives back together.