No Christmas for Sea Lots residents for second year

Jean Blades, 73, shows the burnt remains of her kitchen yesterday.  She was one of several people left homeless after fire razed through the Sea Lots community on Friday last week.
Jean Blades, 73, shows the burnt remains of her kitchen yesterday. She was one of several people left homeless after fire razed through the Sea Lots community on Friday last week.

SEA LOTS residents who lost their homes in a fire on Friday will not be celebrating Christmas again this year. Over one dozen families remain homeless after the fire raged through the close-knit and densely populated community. Residents experienced a similar tragedy on November 7 last year. That incident left 45 people homeless.

“This is the second year we will not be celebrating Christmas here in Sea Lots. There is no joy, no celebrating because so many people lost everything they had,” said Jason Rankin, 41. “Christmas in Sea Lots real exciting. Everybody would come out, we would sit down, everybody liming, chilling out, taking a drink...now people studying how they have to start rebuilding from scratch.”

Rankin was at his workplace when the fire started and only returned later that day to find he had no home to return to.

“I have to start over again from fresh. I lived here all my life and this was really unexpected, it catch me off guard. I didn’t get chance to save anything. All my documents, everything gone.”

He said while the residents tried to put out the fire, the close proximity of the houses and the sea breeze caused the fire to spread quickly.

Jean Blades, 79, is considered a mother figure to all in Sea Lots (West). She has been living there for over 40 years, and after her husband’s death over a decade ago, she has been living by herself, except for her collection of pets.

Sadly, with the loss of her home, Blades also lost most of her pets.

“One of my dogs got burnt up, two big cats and two baby cats now born burn up too. I didn’t know it would have come so far.

I leave the house and come outside thinking they would have put out the fire not knowing it would have spread and burned down the whole place. I cry, I cry, I cry, but... I lost everything. What is hurting me the most is I worked to buy everything in my house. Up to last year I was working, I didn’t depend on anybody.

“I just finish put down expensive tiles on my floor, and build new cupboards. I buy a new stove, it was still in plastic because I say I wasn’t going to open it until Christmas. My new bed, my hutch, all my wares, everything gone,” Blades said.

When Newsday visited yesterday, she was sorting through clothing that a neighbour had received from donors – a toothbrush tucked into a head scarf. She had only the clothes on her back.

“I don’t like to be dependent on anybody. I accustom to working for what I have. I don’t want to get up in the morning and have to wait for somebody to make a cup of tea for me. I spend so much money to fix my place, I had my own ideas how I wanted it to look and decide I will wait until Christmas to open the new things I buy. I had so much pretty things. I can’t even go to church because all my expensive clothes and shoes burn up.”

She said Port of Spain South MP Marlene McDonald visited the residents on Saturday and was expected back today.

Several of the residents said they had received mattresses, water and food since the incident, and were expected to meet with Fire Services officials today.

Numerous calls made to McDonald went straight to voicemail.

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"No Christmas for Sea Lots residents for second year"

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