The fire broke out some minutes before 10pm at the property owned by Audrey Jones, and neighbours reported that a strange couple was seen leaving the yard shortly before the fire was detected. A neighbour said that she heard her dogs barking and upon investigation a man and a woman were seen hurrying away from the yard.
Neighbours were alerted to the fire by two young men who were at the time in their home. Bonita Somerset said that she was relaxing in bed when her two sons, who were preparing a late meal, raised an alarm. “Is them two big boy look out deh window and see deh fire and call me and we run out and called the other neighbours and we break open deh windows and started soaking deh place.”
At the time, none of the tenants of either the bottom or upper flats were at home. However, thanks to the bucket brigade the fire was quickly put out and extensive damage was confined to the bedroom where it started. Quick thinking neighbours said that upon entering the apartment, they first disconnected all the electrical appliances and took the gas bottle and other flammables out of the house.
The tenant staying in the damaged apartment, Tysha Richmond, 27, said that because of poor health she has been staying with her mother since January. She underwent major surgery recently.
She said prior to taking up temporary residence with her mother, she had tidied her bedroom and kitchen. “I did not leave anything on my bed so it is really funny that all those things were on my bed.” Investigations revealed that the fire was ignited on the bed which had several items on it.
Richmond said that most of the items found burnt on the bed were the contents of two barrels of new supplies her husband had brought during his home visit from overseas in December. “I didn’t have Christmas because of my condition and all the things I buy were well packed up in my room and everything burn up. Somebody had to break in this house because I am a 100% sure that’s not how I left things,” said the woman. “How the barrel cover reached under the mattress is a mystery to me.” she added.
The occupant of the upper flat, Odetta Anderson, was also spending the night at her mother at the time of the incident. Anderson, who is in the last trimester of her pregnancy, said that she was away since Sunday. “My husband is in the interior and it’s me and my lil son alone, so I went at mommy since Sunday because I am expecting any time now and if I should go into labour is me alone at the back here.”
She was happy that she suffered no losses save the shattered windows. Jones was very grateful to neighbours, whose efforts averted a major catastrophe. She said that the building was completed only in September 2009 and was occupied by the next month.
Police at Linden are continuing investigations. Friday night’s fire was the third in Block 22 Wismar in less than two weeks. None of the properties was insured since the area is not regularised. The two previous fires were believed to be of electrical origin.
