Five homeless as fire ravages house in Tobago

According to Assistant Divisional Fire Officer, David Thomas, officers of the Roxborough Station received the distress call at about 8.25pm.

On arrival, they observed that the upper part of the building, owned by 72 yearold, Marilyn Denoon, was on fire. The fire spread rapidly through the roof and the entire upper part of the building was engulfed in flames. Thomas dismissed reports by villagers that the fire service responded to the fire with a limited water supply.

“The fire tender responded with 5,000 litres of water on a 631 appliance,” Thomas said.

“There was a backup tanker that carried 13,000 litres of water.

It took the response team approximately 20 minutes to get to the scene because of the crowd that flooded the area. Vehicles were poorly parked which posed a challenge for the fire tender. The building materials in the property aided escalation of the blaze.

Also, fire officers who fought the blaze did their best and should not be blamed.” Five persons occupied the upper floor, while two people occupied the lower floor which suffered water damage. Three persons were at home at the time of blaze. The structure, which was valued at $2.3 million sustained damage amounting to approximately $800,000.

A preliminary damage assessment was conducted by the Tobago Emergency Management (TEMA) and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) technicians.

TEMA along with the Division of Health and Social Services (DHSS) and the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport (DEYAS) are assisting with school supplies along with other essential relief for the affected.

Area representative, Assemblyman Tracy Davidson Celestine, visited the home and promised to assist with relief. The cause of the fire is still unknown.