News
Fire leaves several homeless in Board Villa community
Corey Robinson
Thursday, June 11, 2009
MORE than two dozen residents of Board Villa, a small community off Slipe Pen Road in Kingston, are homeless after fire razed their homes in a tenement yard late Tuesday night.
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| Two boys search the rubble from Tuesday night's fire at Board Villa in Kingston. (Photo: Garfield Robinson) |
An estimate of the damage was not ascertained up until late yesterday.
Yesterday Farrell Barrette, who lost all his belongings in the blaze, said things could have been much worse as several children were asleep inside the houses when the fire started.
"I lost everything, everything gone," he told the Observer. "But we are really glad that nobody, especially the children, were hurt. That was the main thing last night; we never wanted anyone to get hurt."
"I couldn't take anything out of the house, I just had to grab my two youths and move," said Barrette, recalling the frightening incident.
The disheartened fire victim chuckled briefly at the sight of the charred remains of his wooden home before lighting a cigarette.
He said that a dirty, smoke-filled shirt, a pair of jeans shorts, and a pair of plastic slippers he was wearing, were the only belongings he had left.
"Is about seven houses were burnt out, and about 30 people don't have anywhere to live now. From morning people don't stop fainting when them see what happen to them house," said an elderly woman.
Yesterday, a web of burnt electrical wires were seen hanging from a Jamaica Public Service (JPS) power line. The residents said they were illegally connected to supply the mostly wooden homes with electricity.
The victims are hopeful, however, that they will receive some assistance soon.
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