A Block 22, Wismar, Linden family now faces straitened circumstances as the modest one-bedroom home the mother and daughter shared was reduced to ashes in the early morning hours of yesterday.
A fire of unknown origin broke out at 105 Block 22 some time around 1.30 am yesterday completely destroying the home of Jennifer Almon and her teenage daughter Volita Almon. The nearby home of another daughter, Vanessa Almon, was also scorched in the process.
When Stabroek News arrived on the scene approximately 20 minutes after the fire started the small house had already reduced to ashes with only the four upright posts left standing. Fire fighters were soaking the remains, since according to neighbours, the inferno was put out by a bucket brigade formed by residents of the unregularised area.
Vanessa Almon whose house sits on an adjoining lot said she was the first to be alerted. She said that at the time she was about to return to bed after giving her baby a feed. “I was going back to bed when I heard this crackling sound but at first I didn’t take it for nothing,” the woman explained. She said she decided to go outside and investigate after the sounds became louder.
She recounted that upon investigation she noticed smoke emanating from the floor of her mother’s house in the vicinity of the bedroom and kitchen. The woman said that she immediately attempted to soak the floor from under the house but the fire quickly engulfed the entire building.
An alarm was raised and neighbours came out and formed a bucket brigade. However, they were unable to save any of the household items.
A neighbour, Carol Richards said that at the time she was asleep but was awakened by her
son and told of the fire. “I live right over there in dah lil shack and I hear meh son calling me to de top ah he voice saying ‘mammy mammy de whole place on fire.’”
She said that she quickly got up and noticed her neighbour’s house on fire. She summoned others and joined efforts to put out the blaze.
The woman explained that at the time it was very windy and the fire was catching on to the other house in the yard and efforts were shifted to save that one.
Some persons said they did not know the number for the fire station and had called the Mackenzie Police Station for assistance. “I got a shock of my life when I called the Mackenzie Police Station and asked them for the number for the fire station would you believe me de police told me dey ain’t know de fire station number!” exclaimed one resident.
Neither the owner of the house, Jennifer Almon nor her daughter was at home at the time. Stabroek News understands that the woman, who is a special constable, was performing duties at the GT&T Christianburg/ Wismar exchange and her daughter who lives with her had spent the night with a brother. This newspaper caught up with the woman who was at the time walking the lonely Christianburg road approximately one and a half hours after the incident.
Obviously shocked, the woman said that when she left home she was absolutely sure that no stove or any other thing was left alight in the house with the exception of a light bulb in her bedroom.
She could not estimate the value of her losses at the time but was saddened by the fact that she had lost all her belongings save the clothes on her back. Among the items destroyed in the house were two stoves, one electric and the other kerosene, a TV set and household furnishings.