A fire, which broke out at a three bedroom dwelling house along Agate Lane, off Barracks Road in Montego Bay on Thursday night, has left one elderly woman dead and her brother nursing a broken leg and homeless.

The deceased woman is 67-year-old Elizabeth Bryant and her brother is Noel Murray.

Acting deputy superintendent of the St James

Fire Department, Valbert Lawrence, told the Observer yesterday that indications were that Bryant was trying to escape the fire at the time of her death but was “overcome by smoke inhalation”. She was found dead, lying face down close to the front door.

Lawrence said Murray managed to escape the fire by jumping through a side window, but broke his leg during the process.

The fire, which started between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm resulted in loss estimated at $600,000.

According to a report from the fire department, three fire units, with a complement of 14 fire fighters from their Barnett Street facility, responded to the call and worked for more than 20 minutes to put out the blaze.

It was not clear what had caused the fire, but the deputy fire chief charged that citizens needed to take better precautions, including when handling candles in their homes.

“The point that the fire brigade wants to make is that when we live in these vulnerable areas, where the houses are close together or where the houses are old, we cannot be doing the wrong things such as leaving a candlesexposed or in a too small container,” he said.

This recent fire comes in the wake of another blaze earlier this week, which started at a one-storey dwelling house along King Street in the city and left 17 people homeless.

Loses were estimated at some $2.5 million.

Since the start of the year, there have been 25 fires in the parish, 18 of which have occurred at dwelling houses.