Latest update November 18th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Fire destroys Albouystown home
The raging fire that quickly flattened the house.
By Brushell Blackman
A fire of unknown origin has left fifteen persons of 101 Hunter Street, Albouystown homeless.
According to eyewitnesses, the fire started just before 18:00 hours last evening and flattened the modest structure in less than fifteen minutes. The residence which housed a number of families has been there for a number of years and was popular for a vulcanising shop that served that area and nearby communities.
According to Wycliff Hallen, a fish vendor, he had just exited his apartment, leaving his five children at home when he heard screams of ‘fire.’
“I going fuh collect some money from me wuk place when I hear a boy shouting fire”. The man said upon looking back he realised it was the building that he shared with his children that was on fire.
Remembering that he left his five children at home alone, Hallen said he hurried back and took them to safety, he was unable to save anything. The man was adamant that the fire did not start at his apartment but in fact, at an apartment shared by a woman and her five children.
Residents in the neighbourhood confirmed this and said that the woman is an alcoholic who is usually beaten by her eldest child. The woman and her family fled the scene soon after the blaze as angry residents sought her out for answers.
“Is by she the fire start. This woman does drink bad” one irate resident lamented.
A distraught Antonio Mantana shared an apartment in the building with his reputed wife and her daughter. The man said that it was only today that he returned from sea to check on his reputed wife who was feeling unwell.
The fisherman explained that while plying his trade on the high seas he was having strange dreams and asked his captain to go home for a short while.
“Is only today I come home.”
The man said that he just felt something bad would have happened but he did not envisage this (fire). The family was unable to save anything, save for a mattress and a grip with some of their earthly possessions.
The families were unsure where they would rest their heads for the night and according to them, with the break of day tomorrow (today) moving forward will be a tedious task. The fire service and the police responded promptly even as nearby residents scampered to remove items from their homes fearing that the inferno would have spread.
Many persons openly commended the efforts of the fire service as the fire was contained to that structure only. “They (fire service) meet here fast and they out this fire quick too,” one curious onlooker lamented.
There has been an increase in fires around the city recently. It was just two weeks ago that two fires on Regent Street destroyed a number of business establishments leaving in their wake, millions of dollars in losses and many persons unemployed.
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