Senior Reporter
kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
It was a traumatic and dreadful Sunday for Aaliyah Small and her mother, Alisha Mohammed, as they cried for help while fleeing their burning home in La Romaine.
The morning blaze along Lucky Street Extension left a family of seven searching for a place to call home after fire ravaged their two-storey house.
According to police, Derecia Christopher, 35, reported that around 7.30 am, she locked and secured her home, which occupies the second level of the two-storey building. The ground floor is owned by her sister, Mohammed.
Around 9.40 am, Christopher received a call that her home was on fire and returned to find the upstairs apartment destroyed.
Mohammed told officers that she and her daughter were at home when they heard a noise coming from the upstairs apartment. On checking, they discovered it was on fire.
Fire Support Station Operator (FSSO) Hernandez and team of firefighters from the Mon Repos Fire Station responded and extinguished the blaze, while T&TEC personnel disconnected power to the house.
Recalling the event, Small said she pleaded with neighbours for help.
“We pleaded for help from the neighbours and people up the road and stuff, to help us. They wet what they could wet, but upstairs was totally gone by the time they came. So they wet the dogs. They wet the car. They tried to move the car. What we are doing right now is asking for assistance. We have three children out of clothes, out of books for school, all these different things, and we want to also know if you all could assist in any way that we can get food items.”
After realising the house was on fire, Small said she ran back inside to turn off the stove and gas tank. While breaking the windows, a piece of glass pierced her hand, requiring stitches and medication at the San Fernando General Hospital.
When Guardian Media visited yesterday, specks of colour stood out among the rubble, the remnants of clothes, books and furniture. The shells of appliances amplified the hefty financial loss.
Burnt-out bicycles on Christopher’s porch showed the heavy toll the fire had taken on her children, who also lost their school uniforms and books, leaving them unable to attend school.
Even as Small spoke with Guardian media, the crashing sound of galvanised sheeting collapsing inside the house shook her.
Although the downstairs apartment escaped severe fire damage, nearly everything inside was soaked as firefighters battled the blaze above, leaving only a fan still working, Small said.
Christopher and her children, aged ten and five-year-old twins, were not at home when the fire broke out, as they had been visiting her father in San Fernando.
Mohammed operated a parlour from her home.
Family, friends and the area councillor have since provided immediate relief items, but as relatives consider rebuilding, Small said they also intend to apply to the Housing Development Corporation for a home.
Small said the family spent the night with relatives, but now faces the challenge of finding a permanent place to live.
Anyone wishing to assist the family can contact Small at 731-7259 or Christopher at 334-5582.
