Damage as a result of a house fire which took place on Taylor Street next to Salem Church destroying two families homes in the process on Sunday. Photo: Chappell Whyms Jr
By EARYEL BOWLEG
Tribune Staff Reporter
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
A home was destroyed, and three other houses suffered extensive damage after an unattended candle sparked a fire on Taylor Street on Sunday.
Affected families are staying with relatives or in hotel rooms as the Christmas holiday approaches. Yesterday, some cleared out their homes and salvaged what they could, the smell of smoke lingering two days after the fire started around 7.15pm. The structure remains intact, but most rooms are charred, and belongings were scattered. The houses are uninsured.
“This don’t even feel like no Christmas,” said long-time Taylor Street resident Napo Major.
His sister, brother, two adult nieces, and six children lived at the home.
He said: “My little boy wasn’t here, but he see it on Facebook, and he been questioning me from yesterday, keep calling me off and on, ‘Daddy, what get burned up?’ His tablet and everything, but he don’t believe when they tell him everything.”
Mr Major, 44, said he was home and his two adult nieces were getting tattoos when he saw a fire in the neighbour’s room.
He said he grabbed a bucket of water to extinguish the flames but was too late. The flames grew, prompting others in the neighbourhood to help.
Travan Rolle, Mr Major’s cousin, said she sometimes cries, thinking about everything that must be replaced.
“How the times is now, things hard with money,” she said, expressing frustration with the neighbour in whose house the fire started.
“It’s like she don’t even care,” she said.
Penny Burrows Rolle, 60, and her two adult daughters live in one of the damaged structures.
Mrs Burrows Rolle said her family has salvaged only a few clothes and other items since the fire.
“We cannot afford to just let it go,” she said about the generational home. “Everyone has been here all their life.”
The residents are receiving help from Shamarco Adderley –– also known as Priest Marcus –– and from other members of the Rastafarian community. Mr Adderley grew up on Taylor Street and considers those affected family.
“Most we could try do is try see if we could find a place where the family could come together and be and then see how we could also help out and try help with supplies, blanket, sheets, things they need for their health,” he said yesterday.
Superintendent Quincy McGregor, administrator for fire services, said the fire was accidental “due to a light candle being left unattended”.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
OpenID