A fire of unknown origin yesterday razed the home of a single mother and three of her five children at Lot 473 Samaroo Street, ‘B’ Field, Sophia around 3.20 pm.
Lorraine Martindale, 40, told this newspaper that she was a corner away at a friend’s home when she received a call that her house was on fire. Looking up to the sky, the distressed woman said, she saw thick smoke and immediately rushed home in a panic, uncertain of whether or not her children were harmed. Thankfully, she said, she met her children on the street.
Earlier that day, the woman explained, she sent her children off to school and left home around 9 am. She related that she worked as a domestic and usually her children would go home after school, freshen up and go back on the street to play with their friends.
After receiving the information, she indicated that she was worried about the children’s whereabouts but was relieved after finding them on the road.
“I run over and when I run over halfway here I see them… They went home and change they clothes and went out back on the road… and I see me house done burn, everything done burn up; flat to the ground,” she said.
The woman stated that she had no electricity in the home and only owned a lamp, a television set and a tape recorder which she would operate on a battery. This, she noted, is very unlikely to have caused the fire.
Exploring the other possibilities, Martindale said her matches are usually kept in her bag which she always locks away in her bedroom, being aware that she has young children in the home.
“I left my matches in my bag and leave it inside my bedroom and I does lock my bedroom and keep the key so I don’t know how the fire start,” she reiterated.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness, Nathalie (only name given), said she was at home when she heard screams in the street, “Look fire, look fire”. She said after glancing outside, she and her two cousins immediately rushed for buckets and proceeded to dip water from a trench in front of the blazing home in an effort to extinguish the flames.
However, she said, because of the heat, they could not get very close to the structure, failing to douse the house.
“We see de big blaze and try to out it but the heat make we couldn’t go near so my sister go home and call the fire service,” she said, adding that they received quick response by firefighters who arrived on the scene at approximately 3:35 pm.
Martindale told this newspaper that she is uncertain of her next move. Expressing her distress at not being able to save any of her valuables, she said she now only owns the garments that she and her family had been wearing.
“Nothing, nothing at all we ain’t get… just the clothes on we back,” she lamented.
At the time, she spoke to this newspaper, the woman was attempting to get in contact with her mother who she said resides at South Road, Lacytown. She was hoping that she can take her family there to spend the night until she figures out an alternative.
Her children, Alex, Evette and Abigail, aged 14, 8 and 6 respectively, appeared solemn. The 14-year-old, who seemed to be more aware of the tragedy, is a student of the St Winifred’s Secondary School, while the two younger children attend the Sophia Primary school.
