MONTEGO BAY, St James — Fifteen residents of the densely populated Coombs Lane, in this western city, are now without a roof over their heads as fire destroyed eight houses and a workshop earlier today.

Karen Morrison was among those who lost everything.

“I was on Barnett Street, and somebody tell me seh the yard a bun down. I have been here 48 years so imagine that. I born round here suh, mi nuh born a no hospital. My two children grew up here, mi never move yet,” she said, hands on her cheeks as she stared at what used to be her house.

“A life you know, from you have life you good. A just so it go,” Morrison said while wiping tears from her eyes.

Stacy Lawrence, another resident who also lost all her belongings yet took time out to comfort Morrison, agreed that they were all lucky to still be alive. 

“The greatest thing is we have life, so we have to tek time do what we have to do and try get back likkle stuff. We are going to need a lot of assistance because you have some who don’t have anywhere to go, so they have to [stay] with somebody for now… to lay [their] heads,” she said.

“We lost everything, bed, dresser, fridge. Everything burned down, we didn’t get to save anything. I was at work when I heard, and I left work to come,” she added.

Mother of three, Alicia Vassell, told OBSERVER ONLINE that while she was lucky to save a few items from her burning home, her young children’s clothing and school items were all consumed by the raging fire.

“The only thing mi save are my mattress and my bedside table dem. The bed [base] bun up, clothes bun up. My pickney dem clothesless, bookless, homeless. I have three children. They attend Cornaldi Primary School. School has to go on pause for now,” she said.

Councillor for the Montego Bay South Division, Richard Vernon, visited the scene of the fire and promised to help.

“We will have to have further conversations… to see how we can meet at a place where they can benefit and recover some of the things they would have lost in the fire. But they will have to start over. It is very hard, especially in these times when we have the pandemic dealing with and high levels of unemployment,” he said.

“When I observed what was happening and based on conversations with the constituents, some of them were living in a rented unit and of course, you know, they will have to find another home,” he continued.

The councillor added that residents must also take the required steps to seek Government assistance in recovering their items.

“In terms of what they have lost, I am not sure how we can approach that, but it is not an easy situation where you can just say go down to a place and get back everything that you lost,” he told OBSERVER ONLINE.

“The residents will have to follow the protocols that are set out when there is a fire. Usually when there is a fire, we deal with rapid response to comfort — clothing, beds, blankets, and those things,” Vernon explained.

The St James Fire Department, which responded to the fire with four units, was unable to give an estimate of the losses as investigations are on-going.

Rochelle Clayton