Five homeless after Marabella fire

A fire destroyed the top floor of a two-storey house at Marabella on Friday afternoon, leaving a family of five homeless.

Police said the fire broke out in a bedroom at about 2 pm at the house at Tarouba Road.

At the time, Kezia Figaro, a businesswoman, was at home with her three children, 19, six and five. Her husband was at work.

Figaro offers virtual assistance and social media marketing services to small businesses. She works from home.

Tenants who live downstairs tried to help put out the fire using a hose and water buckets, without luck.

Officers from the Mon Repos fire station contained the flames, but the family did not manage to save anything from the top floor.

No one was injured and the cause is yet to be determined. Police and fire estimated the loss to the structure and contents at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Investigations continue.