A group of concerned neighbours at 6th Avenue, Friendship Terrace, St Michael are banding together to assist a family of three, whose earthly belongings were consumed in an afternoon blaze.
On Thursday afternoon, neighbours and persons in the nearby Warrens area were startled by a loud explosion, which was followed by thick black smoke billowing into the air at approximately 2:50 p.m.
In the blistering afternoon heat, the small wooden structure was engulfed in flames. It took no more than 15 minutes to be gutted.
The victims are Don Worrell, his partner and her young son. Despite initial concern expressed by neighbours, Barbados TODAY later learned that none of them was at home.
Now, those neighbours have pledged to assist. One of them told Barbados TODAY: “We decided that we would get together as a group of concerned neighbours and family to do all that we possibly can in the essence of love and in the true spirit of the name of the neighbourhood, ‘Friendship’, we would get together and help rally around the family to give them as much help as we possibly can.
Firemen battling the blaze at Friendship Terrace, St Michael today.
“We started by saying we would collect some supplies as that would be needed right now. So we are going to go and meet nearby and determine what toiletries, towels and clothes we can provide,” the woman added.
As the fire burned moments before, neighours exhausted all options using garden hoses to douse the fire.
Christina Ward who called the Barbados Fire Service explained: “The houses out here are very close, that is why I had to tell everybody to come out and wet their houses.”
Tariq Sutherland who lives just across the street from the fire was watching the drama unfold from upstairs his home.
“I heard people shouting and screaming and carrying on and when I came to see what was going on I saw a lot of fire and smoke as I watched the house burn down. I just wanted to make sure that the little boy wasn’t in there and thankfully, he wasn’t,” he told Barbados TODAY.
Judy Lorde who lives next door added: “I was scared it would spread to my house, but I was lucky that it did not.”
Acting Station Officer Wayne Vaughn revealed that they received the call at six minutes to three and upon arrival were able to bring it under control in approximately five to seven minutes, though nothing could be salvaged besides a few U.S dollars.
“As you can see, nothing was saved. The house has been completely destroyed and thankfully it was only that one house involved. There was some money found in the burnt out house and we have secured that to give to the owner but everything was destroyed,” revealed the officer.
He added that it would be irresponsible to speculate about the fire’s origin but indicated the fire service would be thoroughly investigating.
As the fire was burning, one of the occupants, Don Worrell arrived at the scene, his face filled with shock and despair. Moments later, he left to attend to the needs of his daughter.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb
