Copyright newsday
TIMELY intervention by a neighbour around 3 am on November 7 may have saved the lives of 15 people, including seven minors, in Vega de Oropouche after he alerted them to a fire which broke out in a mini-mart at the front of the compound. In less than 30 minutes, three houses to the back of the mini-mart were ablaze as tanks of LPG cooking gas in the mini-mart exploded and further fuelled the inferno. The quiet village on the outskirts of Sangre Grande, along the Toco Main Road, was awakened by the neighbour as he was preparing to go to the market to sell. He quickly stopped his vehicle and began honking his horn and shouting, "Fire, fire!" His shouting and the pungent smell of smoke alerted occupants of the home adjacent to the mini-mart. The frightened family fled the house and began waking their relatives in the two houses to the back. Two vehicles were destroyed as the raging fire and smoke forced some of the residents to flee without grabbing their car keys. One vehicle was able to be saved as residents "bumped-moved it" out of the yard just in time. However, a pet dog could not be saved and perished in the blaze. When Newsday visited the area around 9.30 am, resident Taryn Bhola was walking around seemingly in a daze as representatives from the constituency office of the area's MP Wayne Sturge were taking information from those affected. Two further explosions near the mini-mart startled the visibly shaken family. A small fire was still blazing in one of the houses. Bhola's left arm was severely burnt with the skin already raising fluid-filled blisters – but she seemed oblivious to the pain as the traumatic incident played over and over in her mind. She lived in the last house in the back of the compound with her husband and children. Asked whether she had been to the hospital to treat the burn injuries, Bhola brushed off the question, more concerned with how she was going to rebuild her home, her life and her business. She was urged by this reporter and a member of the constituency office to visit the hospital as soon as possible. Although grateful to be alive, family members said they were very angry with the response – or lack thereof – of the Sangre Grande Fire Station, situated ten minutes away on Ojoe Road. Recounting the incident, Bhola said, "It started in the shop. A neighbour was passing – he does do market to work – so he saw the fire and come and he alert everybody in the yard. By the time we get out, the flame happened so fast because the shop have gas tanks and stuff. I thought the fire service would have come before my house catch fire. "There is apparently no fire service in Grande – no station. They had to come from quite Arima. The (Sangre Grande) fire station was locked as its truck wasn't on, nobody was working." She said a fire tender from Arima responded to the report and came over an hour later and extinguished the blaze. Bhola said neighbours came out in their numbers to help but the lack of running water limited what they could do. Fortunately, she said, rain began to fall, which helped limit the blaze. Asked how she sustained her injuries, Bhola said she was burnt while trying to retrieve her wallet from the house. She added, "It's feeling surreal. I still haven't processed this yet, and I'm still feeling like is ah dream, but we're alive...that's the main thing. We lose everything, everything. We only come out with the clothes on our backs. "We were dependent on the fire engine. I can't imagine the whole ah Grande and you have to come from Arima to serve Grande. That is madness!" STATION LOCKED Larry Homer, who lives in the house immediately behind the mini-mart, said he drove to the Sangre Grande Fire Station in just his boxer shorts when he found they were taking too long. "I jumped in my car. I ended up getting my keys from my car. That's the only thing I got – my keys. Gone by the station, blowing the horn, blowing the horn – nobody come out. The station locked up. The gate locked. No fire truck ain't on. Nobody ain't up. No fire van ain't even on to say they coming to see if they could help somebody in case somebody trapped in the house. "Eventually somebody come out. I say, 'Fire up in Vega on the main road. Wah going on?' The man he say, 'We'll come just now.' "I say, 'What do you mean just now? How y'all could be coming now when the gate's still locked?' "He say, 'Well, you know how it does be.' "That's what the fireman tell me in the station this morning. I was real disappointed by this. So I just came back and we just had to stand and watch everything burn down. That's all we could do," Homer said. He estimates his losses at close to $100,000 as laptops, refrigerators, TV and other appliances and devices were lost. Another resident, market vendor Dominic Homer, said he is "praying and hoping" for support from the government. Asked where the family would stay on Friday night, he said, "By in-laws, but you know you can't badger them for long." Fire Service PRO Daron Dasent told Newsday officers from the Sangre Grande Fire Station on Ojoe Road attempted to respond to the incident, but were hampered by a "defective truck." He said, "When they responded, the vehicle failed. But we have a coverage plan, which is Arima. The truck is back on the run. It was rectified earlier today," Dasent said. Minister: Fire service in a mess An officer at Arima Fire Station told Newsday the cause of the blaze was yet to be determined but an active investigation is under way. Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander during the Standing Finance Committee last month revealed that $11.2 million was allocated for vehicles for the Fire Service, but no mention was made of Sangre Grande which serves a wide geographic area from Valencia to Matelot to Manzanilla. In an interview with Newsday on Friday, Alexander said he was "extremely concerned" by the lack of equipment and derelict state of fire appliances nationwide. However, he said fire officers are not at fault, directing blame to the previous PNM administration and their ten years in office. "The fire service is in a mess," Alexander declared. He said there is an effort to repair many of the vehicles but this was like "pelting money in the dustbin." He added, "These vehicles' lifespan have come to an end." He said it takes around 16-18 months to bring a fire tender, built for purpose, into the country. He assured the public and officers that he will address their concerns. "You will see where the money is going." He said he was relieved that there were no human deaths, but as a dog-lover it was disturbing to hear about the pet's demise. In the space of three days, this week, 26 people were left homeless in two fire incident – 15 in the Vega de Oropouche fire incident on November 7 and 11 in a fire on November 4, which destroyed a house in Williamsville. Chief Fire Officer Andy Hutchinson told Newsday he was unaware of the particulars of the Vega de Oropouche incident but urged people to invest in smoke detectors and fire extinguishers to protect themselves and their homes. Asked about the number of fire incidents recently, he said the service was planning a fire safety drive to raise awareness among the population. Alderman Angard Arjoonsingh responded to the fire alongside councillor Daryl Mohan on November 7, providing mattresses, food and water to the affected family. He said a letter was given to the affected families so they can access a $20,000 grant from the National Self-Help Ltd for materials to go towards rebuilding their homes. He said book grants have been sourced to assist the children and MP Sturge was expected to visit the family later in the day. Arjoonsingh said the Disaster Unit of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation also responded with officials arriving to conduct an assessment. Newsday attempted to get a response from Sturge on the lack of a response by the Sangre Grande fire station but he did not respond to our calls or messages up to time of publication.
