Copyright trinidadexpress
ONE family in Bon Accord, Tobago, is lucky to be alive after the gas tank in their kitchen exploded on Sunday afternoon. Luckily a friend of the family intervened and villagers assisted in bringing the situation under control. The incident occurred shortly before 1 p.m. on Sunday, in the midst of the Tobago Carnival activities. Aaliyah Peters reported she was cooking at the time when she heard a loud bang. “I heard a loud noise I know there was no one else at home so where I was sitting I saw a fire reflection on a door because of the sheen on the door. I saw the blaze so I ran to the kitchen. I saw it and called my sister. I said ‘Brittany get some water’, so she came with the hose and we were trying to like cool it down,” Peters recalled. Family friend Devon Thomas said he ran to the assistance of the family when he heard screams for help. “When I rush back inside I realise the whole place was smoky and the only thing I see is the flames coming from the tank and the stove. So I run around this counter in order to get the tank to come off because I did not want it to explode and make more fire than how it was already blazing already. So I just run round, my instinct took off the tank cover, pelt it away and the fire die down after that,” he recalled. Peters said despite having fire extinguishers on hand she became flustered by the turn of events. “It’s a traumatising experience I must say because usually hearing these stories everybody always say if it happen to me I would do this and do that but when it’s unexpected and in the moment I was flustered. I won’t lie—the extinguishers were literally next to me and I did not know what to do,” she said. Owner of the house Tamecia Cox said she remains thankful to villagers of Bon Accord who assisted and commended the Crown Point Police and the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service for their swift response, saving her home. “After my kids and them, my daughter came out and tell me the house was on fire, I rush in open the door, get the guys and them on the block to open the windows, take off the curtains and get some of the smoke and the flames outside and we get on to Crown Point police. We had swift response from Crown Point police I must give the Fire Service a great, great commendation. “I must say thanks for showing up fast,” she said. Cox said fire officers told her the hose and head of the gas tank were in good condition. She also said, Trinidad and Tobago National Petroleum Marketing Company Limited representatives have been liaising with her and visited her home yesterday. The Express contacted NP’s manager Marketing and Corporate Communications Alexander Thomas who said NP is at this time liaising with the Fire Service on the matter. A representative from NP Tobago is also liaising with the family. Last week the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries in a release announced that the draft rules on domestic cooking gas cylinders be reviewed and updated “as a matter of urgency” after four people died following LPG gas tank explosions between April and October this year. The most recent victim, Penal resident Bevaughn Joseph, 28, suffered burns to 80% of his body after a gas cylinder exploded at his home on October 13. He died in hospital four days later. The other three victims were 19-year-old Naomi Aliyah Mya De Mille, of Lopinot Road, in April; Racquel Babwah, 44, of Claxton Bay, in June; and Ria George, 47, of Debe in August. Also last week NP announced that it has enhanced safety inspections and leak testing of LPG cylinders. At a meeting on October 15 several stakeholders, including representatives from NP, Ramco Gas Industries Ltd (Ramco) the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service (TTFS), Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS), Customs and Excise Division, and representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries met to discuss tightening control over domestic LPG cylinders following the series of gas tank explosions. The meeting was chaired by Franz Brisbane, the Chief Inspectorate at the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA), and held at OSHA’s head office in St Augustine.
