By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A 41-YEAR-OLD woman was charged yesterday with starting the June fire that gutted an apartment building on Infant View Road and left about 40 people homeless.
Prosecutors allege Dwania Strachan intentionally set fire to the two-storey, multi-unit stone building, owned by Kara Butler Wight, on June 15. The damage was estimated at $425,000.
Strachan appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Ancella Evans and was not required to enter a plea to a charge of arson of a building. She was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until December 3, when she is due to be served with a voluntary bill of indictment sending her case to the Supreme Court. She was told she has the right to apply for bail in the higher court.
The fire gutted the upper apartments of the seven-unit building and left the lower units damaged by heat and water. No injuries were reported. Police said the Fire Services Department was alerted shortly before 3pm and sent three fire units to the scene.
Among those displaced was Robin Pierre, 32, a mother of three who had lived in the building for 15 years and was weeks away from starting work as a nurse intern at Princess Margaret Hospital when she lost nearly everything.
Ms Pierre said her family lost money, clothing, documents, appliances and furniture.
"We weren't able to retrieve anything," she said.
She said her relief that her family escaped unharmed outweighed the loss of their belongings.
Inspector Deon Barr prosecuted the case. Cyril Morris represented Strachan.
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