Latest update November 23rd, 2024 1:00 AM
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Fire destroys Retrieve home in community without hydrants
-fire tenders forced to refill from Bosai plant several minutes away
With tears streaming down his face, Linden resident Morris Marshall watched helplessly yesterday as his two-storey home with all his belongings inside went up in flames at Retrieve, Linden.
The fire, which started shortly after 17:00 hrs, is believed to be of electrical origin, and Marshall’s home is the second to be destroyed in three days in the bauxite mining community. Eyewitnesses said that firefighters arrived promptly with fire tender.
But their water eventually ran out and there were no working fire hydrants nearby or any potable water in the area.
A firefighter, who declined to be identified, said that they were forced to access water from a fire hydrant located at the Bosai bauxite plant some ten minutes drive away.
The burning building
Residents said that fire tenders had to rush back and forth about nine times from the burning building to the area from where they were accessing water.
“They had the fire under control, but when they left (to refill the tenders) the fire would flare up again and they would have to start all over again,” a resident said.
Residents were also unable to assist, since no water was flowing through their taps when the fire broke out. They said things would have been even more disastrous had the buildings in the area been closer together.
Marshall, who lives alone and is estimated to be in his seventies, was out when the fire started. The elderly man employs a caretaker who visits in the morning hours.
Mr. Marshall returned home to find his house in flames and could only watch on in despair as the building, with everything inside, was consumed.
According to reports, residents said that they saw electrical wires near Marshall’s home sparking. They then heard an explosion and saw the house on fire.
It was only last Sunday that another fire or unknown origin destroyed another two-storey wooden and concrete building at Lot 774 One Mile Wismar, Linden.
The upper flat was occupied by 48-year old Roxanne Mc Turk, who lived with her husband and five children while the bottom flat was home to her 53-year old sister Joycelyn Fraser and her two daughters.
The occupants were unable to save anything and Mc Turk said she lost approximately $10M in valuables in the inferno.
Residents also complained that the firefighters were hampered by an inadequate supply of water.
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