A house fire in Clevedale, Black Rock left two pensioners homeless and damaged another home in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The blaze, which began just before 6:30 a.m., shocked residents in the St Michael district but resulted in no injuries or loss of life.
Angela Grimes, 70, who lived in the destroyed house with her brother Charles, 60, described the rapid spread of the fire: “When I got up and I heard him, I said, ‘Charles,’ and he said ‘yes’. Then I heard him again, and I asked him, ‘You alright?’ and he said ‘yes’. And that was a little after six. And then I smelled something like smoke, and when I came out of the bedroom, I saw the smoke in his bedroom”.
“When I looked further in the bedroom, the bed was completely on fire, and it started to spread so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to take anything from my room. I just rushed outside and called next door,” she further recounted.
Their home was destroyed and another occupied by Patricia Belle was slightly damaged.
Divisional Officer Tremelle Perch reported that the Barbados Fire Service received the call at 6:28 a.m. Two water tenders, one from the Bridgetown Port Fire Station and the other from the Bridgetown Fire Station, responded under Perch’s command, along with a station officer and eight fire officers. Neighbour Karon Hinkson said she was asleep when the blaze started.
“My mom hit me on my foot and said, ‘Karon, Karon, get up, get up, get up. Annie house pun fire.’ I said, ‘huh?’ She said, “Yes, I need a house phone.’ We wanted to find out if Annie was okay and that she was not in the house,” Hinkson recalled, emphasising the community’s concern for the safety of the burning house’s occupants.
“So what I did then was wake up my sister and her boyfriend, and they ran over. We ran then and come through the line here, but the fire was already going. It was more than what we could have managed. So we wasn’t able to set up or do anything,” she explained.
Despite the chaos, Hinkson maintained a positive outlook: “At the end of the day, she has life. And as long as you have life, things are possible.”
Area MP Ian Gooding-Edghill, who visited the scene, praised the efforts of both the community and the emergency services.
He also assured that support systems were in place to assist those affected.
“We are obviously going to work with the Welfare Department to see how best we can assist those affected, as they have always worked with us,” he said.
The fire is the latest in a series of incidents in the area, with Gooding-Edgill noting that the community had faced three fires “a stone’s throw from this one” in recent times.
Despite the loss of her uninsured home, Grimes remained positive about her community’s support: “Yes, everybody turned out well. And when you live amongst people the best way you can, it always works out well, you know. You ain’t going to meet everybody the same, but the majority of my surroundings are fantastic people.” (RG)
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