Fire razes home of mother and five children

- by Barbados Today May 10, 2023

Thirty-seven-year-old Rashida Yearwood was in a state of shock on Tuesday morning as she watched her Mayers Road, My Lords Hill, St Michael home burn to the ground.
She cried and screamed, asking what she and the five of her six children who lived with her would do now that their three-bedroom concrete and timber home and all of its contents had been destroyed.
The sobbing Yearwood, who was barely able to stand on her own, eventually had to be rushed to a nearby doctor to get medical attention. She later returned to the scene more composed.
The mother recounted to Barbados TODAY that she was on her way to work when she realised she had forgotten her name badge and returned home to get it. It was then she saw the fire that, according to fire officials, started just after 8 a.m.
Her children had left for school just minutes earlier.
“I have been living here all of my life; this is my mother’s house. I don’t know what started the fire. I just turned back for my name badge and I just see the smoke and then I realise the house was burning,” she said.
Yearwood, whose six children are between the ages of one and 15 years old, said she welcomed whatever assistance the family could get at this time.
“We don’t have anything, we lost everything. We would be grateful for whatever help we could get at this time because we have lost everything,” she said, adding that she had to collect the children from school and break the news to them.
Yearwood’s niece, Che Yearwood, who was raised in the house which belonged to her grandmother who is now in a nursing home, said she was at work when she got a call informing her that her childhood home was on fire.
“The house is gone but I am so glad nobody was in there. Luckily, all the children had just left. I rushed here from work and my main concern on my way here is that the children ain’t in the house,” she said.
Neighbours who watched fire officers extinguish the blaze that occurred a day after a woman and her eight-year-old daughter died in a fire in Heddings, St Philip, said while they were sorry the house was destroyed, they were glad no life was lost.
“I am so thankful and I am singing praises that those children had already left for school, and Rashida was not in that house when that fire started because I am going to tell you the truth, it would have been difficult for anyone to enter that house when it was burning saying them try to save anybody,” an elderly female resident said.
“I was so happy when the mother said all the children were already at school. The first thing people out here were asking was, ‘where are the children?’”
Member of Parliament for St Michael East Trevor Prescod, in whose constituency the fire happened, said he has known the Yearwood family for many years and the current situation was unfortunate.
He gave the assurance that he would be working with state-owned agencies and the private sector to get assistance to the family.
“What I have actually indicated to them, even without having the approval of the Welfare Department or the Minister, is if they can find a house during the course of today or tomorrow, I will make sure that the Welfare Department covers the cost of the house for the next six months, hopefully within the limits of
$800 a month,” Prescod said.
“My secretary has already made the required arrangements to see if we can get some welfare assistance so that we can restore them to normal living.”
Chief Fire Officer Errol Maynard said the Barbados Fire Service received the call to respond to the house fire around 8:11 a.m. He said two tenders from the Bridgetown Fire Station responded and found the house fully engulfed in flames.
Maynard expressed concern that there have been fires daily since Sunday.
“The number of fires we have had thus far for the year way exceeds those for last year and this is of significant concern for us. As a matter of fact, it exceeds what we had in the same period for the last five to ten years. It means that this year is somewhat of an anomaly. We are pleading with all Barbadians to be a bit more careful and vigilant,” he said.
“If you are using small appliances, we ask you to turn them off when you are leaving home. Things like fans, you need to plug them out when you are leaving home. And if you are going to be using things like kerosene oil lamps which have open flames, keep them away from things like curtains that would blow on them and cause a fire,” Maynard advised.
(AH)

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