Claxton Bay family homeless after fire

A fire in Claxton Bay on Sunday has left a family of ten homeless including four children ages four, seven, ten and 16.

Residents of Sookoo Trace off Hibiscus Drive saw flames coming from the five-bedroom house at about 11.30 am and alerted the owner, Jocelyn Nelson, who was sitting on the steps.

Reports are Nelson walked in the yard, assuming it was a minor fire. But residents ordered her to run as the fire began to spread rapidly.

Within minutes, the entire house was engulfed in flames. Neighbours attempted in vain to contain the fire by dousing it with buckets of water and using water hoses. Nelson received scorches to her hands. There were no reports of any other injuries.

Initial reports said the fire originated near an electrical panel in the house.

St Margaret's police and fire officers responded.

A post on David Lee’s Facebook page on Sunday afternoon said representatives from his office visited and provided relief in the form of two mattresses and food hampers.

"They also joined members of the community to clean up the site. Sincere thanks to other members of the community who have offered to provide temporary shelter to the displaced family," the Pointe-a-Pierre MP said in the post.

A post from the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation’s Facebook page said its Disaster Management Unit was at the scene to assess the damage.