Latest update November 29th, 2024 1:00 AM
Sleeping child saved from fiery demise
…as fire affects Guyhoc family
A fire of unknown origin has left a family unit contemplating their next move, after engulfing the top flat of a two-storey building and turning all their earthly possessions to ashes, around noon yesterday.
Denise Tobin, 24, her sister Simone Tobin, of lot R75 Guyhoc Gardens are now counting their losses following the blaze, but are nevertheless giving thanks that Devon, 3, who is Simone Tobin’s son, was rescued from a fiery death.
The other occupant of the flat, Tobin’s brother Kenroy Benjamin and his son, as well as Simone Tobin’s two other children and their grandmother Mavis Tobin, were not at home at the time.
According to one neighbour, she had been hanging out with some friends down the street when they noticed the smoke billowing out of the upper windows. She immediately ran into the streets with her friends, raising an alarm.
“We start running and hollering for everybody. We raise up the whole of Guyhoc,” the woman recounted.
After the calls of ‘fire,’ the Aunt of the child, who was asleep in one of the bedrooms, is said to have run up the stairs and brought out the infant.
The fire service was summoned and two tenders arrived approximately 10 minutes after.
They were able to stop the blaze from spreading to adjacent buildings.
Denise Tobin was in the yard when the shouts of her neighbours alerted her. By the time she ran upstairs there was nothing she could do.
“I just come upstairs and I see the mattress catch afire. I try to out the fire but it couldn’t out. Devon went inside and I pick him up. I snatch him and someone come and help me, and I fall down the stairs. The boys collect him and they take me out the house.”
Her sister, Samantha Benjamin, lamented that the house had very old wiring and that they had complained to the landlord on previous occasions, to no avail. Asked about her losses, she indicated that though she was unsure of the exact amount, they were not able to save anything.
A distraught Denise Tobin could be seen combing the ashes for belongings that may have withstood the intense heat.
The fire attracted a large crowd of onlookers, some of whom utilized their mobile devices to put videos on social media.
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