Nelson Street residents call for fire extinguishers, sprinklers

It is believed that the fire was started during a “war of fireworks”.

In De Coteau’s hands were two plastic bags containing articles of clothing and other personal items which she managed to salvage from the ruins.

The mother of four said it was devastating to start the new year like that but also praised, along with other members of the community, Government’s prompt response to the tragic event.

The fire claimed the life of 37-year-old Jameel Allamby and left 15 people homeless.

Residents of the apartment complex including De Coteau have called for fire extinguishers or sprinklers to be placed in the apartments to avoid such future occurrences.

When Newsday visited, yesterday, some of the residents sat around discussing the misfortune which befell the community.

De Coteau said her greatest concern at the moment was not the things lost in the fire, but rather her children’s school books.

However, she too praised Government’s response saying she has already been temporarily relocated to another apartment and received mattresses from the Portof- Spain City Corporation.

“They need to put more safety precautions in place to crack down on the sale of fireworks,” she said.

De Coteau also called for the building to be renovated and beautified.

A similar call was made by Atiba Gorkin who has spent his entire life at 55- 57 Nelson Street. He said fire extinguishers should be placed in each apartment to avoid such problems in the future.

But Gorkin sang high praises for Port-of- Spain South MP Marlene McDonald and Southern Portof- Spain Councillor, Charlene De Peza who, he said, promptly visited the affected residents and spent all day into night with them.

The residents, he said, tried to save Allamby and extinguish the fire with little children throwing buckets of water but their attempts were futile.

“We hooked up hose and everything but it was too much for us to handle,” he said. Gorkin said fire officials also responded quickly as well as the Hosing Development Corporation (HDC) officials.

Kern Jemmott said he jumped up when he heard his mother, Ingrid Jemmott shouting, ‘fire on the building.’ He then ran outside with only a side of slipper on, barebacked and in his boxers. He has lost all of his clothing and items as his apartment is now water logged.

His only wish is to have somewhere to stay although, he said, that is being actively worked upon by Mc- Donald.

But Jemmott, his mother, Kathy-Ann Lynch and Nijm Reyes say that there was no war really as both residents of the Nelson Street apartment and Mango Rose were playing with the fireworks.

This, however, goes contrary to claims by another resident, Sheldon Green, who accused Mango Rose residents of throwing the scratch bombs and ‘Roman Candles’ at the apartments. He has called for a police post to be placed 24/7 in the area.