Family of six homeless but thankful after fire

A pregnant 35-year-old woman, her partner and their four children escaped unhurt but are now homeless after a fire destroyed their Hutchinson Drive, Silver Sands, Christ Church home on Tuesday.

Naria Daniel, partner Ricardo Estwick, 52, and their children ages ten, six, three and one also lost all they owned when the house went up in flames around 2:55 p.m.

The uninsured three-bedroom wooden structure was owned by Estwick’s mother, Gloria Ashby, who lives in the US city of Boston.

Police said that Daniel was in the kitchen cooking and two children were playing in a bedroom where smoke started to rise. As the blaze grew, neighbours ran to assist and tried in vain to put out the blaze.

Two neighbouring houses on either side of Daniel and Estwick’s home were damaged. The homes of Sonia Prescod and Damian Waldron sustained window damage from the intense heat.

Standing in the patio of the house where her family is being temporarily housed at Ealing Grove, Christ Church, Daniel said that though they were now homeless, she is fully aware that the outcome could have been worse. She said she was thankful that all her children are with her today.

“I was inside cooking and I smell the smoke and thought it was coming from outside. When I get to the front bedroom I saw the mattress was on fire. And the fire start to get high and I couldn’t get it under control.  I don’t know how the bed get on fire,” the mother said.

Daniel, now in final weeks of her pregnancy, said she believed one of her children was playing with something that she shouldn’t have had that sparked the fire.

“My Minister [Wilfred] Abrahams [Member of Parliament for Christ Church East] is a good gentleman to me and he helped me. I feel better than how I was feeling yesterday. The people tell me that I supposed to get someplace but I got to wait,” Daniel said.

Abrahams, who described the fire as an unfortunate incident which happened to a family which is already in a perilous situation, thanked the Sons of God Apostolic Spiritual Baptist Church at Ealing Grove, for providing the family with temporary housing near the church.

Area residents also pitched in to clean the interior of the house, while the Silver Sands football team also played a major role in getting the temporary shelter and its surroundings in order, including cutting the grass.

Abrahams said he was impressed that Silver Sands neighbours took swift action to help the family and to prevent the blaze from causing extensive damage to neighbouring houses.

The MP said: “The people of Silver Sands stepped forward to be their brother’s keeper yesterday and who didn’t [get along] with who was still helping the other person to get their house in order.

“Some ladies who don’t want to be identified turned up yesterday and brought food, clothing, beds, and they are pitching up to put in some furniture as well. I was amazed by the outpouring of concern for this family and they are quite comfortable now although this is not the ideal situation. In this difficult time, I feel really good for the care [shown] by the people of Silver Sands and the surrounding areas.”

In another act of charity, a prominent hardware store donated plywood to cover the damaged windows, said Abrahams.

He said: “We tried our best to secure the houses. We are trying our best to assist them in getting the electricity supply back up and running and that involves supplying boxes and getting electrical supplies.

“You know, perhaps the most devastating thing that could happen to anybody is a house fire. When within an hour every single thing that you own has gone up in smoke and there is no insurance, it leaves you scrambling trying to figure out how to move to the next step.”

Two tenders from the Worthing and Bridgetown Fire Stations responded to the blaze.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb