Claxton Bay fire victims split up, seek help

A FAMILY of ten spent the night scattered among neighbours' and relatives' homes on Sunday.

The family, including four children, four, seven, ten and 16, of Sookoo Trace, Hibiscus Drive lived in a two-storey home a that was destroyed by fire on Sunday.

On Monday one of them, Marvin Joseph, said family members sought refuge at the homes of relatives and neighbours.

The family gathered at their home early on Monday to start cleaning up the site.

"We have no place to call home," Joseph said. "We have little finances to rebuild, but we are praying that we can get assistance from the public to reconstruct our home."

Dealing with the sudden disaster, he said, is frustrating as most government offices are closed and there no one to turn to.

"We are desperately in need of material such as bricks, steel, and cement to start rebuilding because the family is scattered living at the mercy of friends and relatives."

MP for the area David Lee visited the family on Sunday and brought food hampers and two mattresses.

He said, "The family also got four mattresses from Couva Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC) and they have applied for further help from the Disaster Management Unit of the corporation."

Other people in the area, who are now home because of the covid19 health crisis, Lee said, came out to help the family in cleaning up the site.

"I must say thanks to others of the community for coming out and supporting this family during this disaster," he said.

An earlier report said the fire started near the main electrical panel in the house. St Margaret's police and fire officers responded quickly but could not save the house.

Family members in other parts of the house when the fire started were shocked when neighbours raised an alarm after spotting smoke coming from the roof. The neighbours tried to contain the fire by dousing it with buckets of water and using water hoses.

The owner of the house, Jocelyn Nelson,suffered burns on her hands while trying to put out the fire. There were no reports of any other injuries.

Joseph said he estimates the loss to be close to $300,000.