Four-bedroom house destroyed by fire in St Mary
Published:Wednesday | March 9, 2022 | 12:06 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
Fire destroyed a four-bedroom house in Lucky Hill, Retreat, in St Mary, early last Thursday morning, leaving six persons, including three children, homeless and damage estimated at approximately $1.5 million.
Reports from the Retreat police are that the fire began after midnight on Wednesday, to which two fire units, one from Ocho Rios and one from St Ann’s Bay, responded and controlled the blaze. The house was, however, completely destroyed.
The police said one man, two women and the three children lived at the house. At the time of the fire the children, ages seven, three, and two years old, were at home with their grandfather, Curtis Brock.
Speaking to The Gleaner, Brock described the incident as shocking, and said he suspects that the fire may have been caused by an iron that was left plugged in.
He said when he was awakened by the fire, he only had time to take the children to safety. Everything was lost in the fire, he lamented.
“The thing that happened last night was very shocking, because it woke me out of my sleep ... this everlasting fire over my head. The only thing I could do was grab my three ‘gran-pickney’ dem an’ run out ah di house,” he explained.
“That’s the only thing, because the way the fire get extended I couldn’t go no further, more than jus’ carry dem dung a dem grandmother. We try fi do wha we could, but the fire get out ah hand; we couldn’t do nothing more.”
Brock said the children’s mother had left them in his care and all four had retired to bed, only for him to be awakened by the heat.
“As mi run out a di house an reach dung deh suh, a di gas pan buss. So is a good thing me wen deh wid dem.”
Brock said the fire destroyed personal items, appliances such as a refrigerator, fan, television, beds, stoves, and musical equipment.
He said he was unsure what was going to happen for the family.
“Well, I don’t know what really going to take place yet, eh nuh; if anything suppose fi happen, it will,” he said.
Brock’s brother, Damion Velvet, who was also at the scene, said he grew up in the house and it was a sad moment for him.
“It kind a feel strange to know that the house I was brought up in was engulfed in fire,” Velvet told The Gleaner.
“It’s really a sad, sad moment right now, especially knowing that I could have lost my brother here and other family members. I’m really happy that they’re alive. This place come in like a historical site, but right now it is laid waste in ruins. The greatest part of it is knowing that lives were spared,” he added.