GRANGE, Hanover — A family of 18, including six children between the ages of one and 15 years old, left homeless by a fire in Grange, Hanover, is appealing for help as they try to pick up the pieces. They are now staying at various locations within the community.

“We need help in rebuilding because, as we stand right now, a lot of kids — from basic to high school — need to go back to school as they have end-of-year exams,” said Camesha Campbell who spoke on behalf of her relatives.

“It is only the same piece of clothes that they wore to the funeral — one pants, one panty, one brassiere — that everybody has. It is only the family trying to pick up the pieces with the cleaning process so we do need help,” she appealed.

The fire that destroyed two board houses in the same yard is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault. The incident took place shortly after 1:00 pm last Saturday.

When the Jamaica Observer visited the area on Monday, the family and a handful of friends were busy cleaning up.

“The
Bible says: ‘Knock on the door and it shall be opened,’ so it is a start. You don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring but you have to live for today and start for today so, you do the cleaning-up process today. You might not know, you wake up tomorrow morning and can buy some board or get some zinc but it’s better that you have that energy to do something than just sitting down not doing anything. We are starting something in faith,” stated Campbell.

A large aluminium rice pot, which was melted down to what looked like a piece of art, and a partially burnt
Bible were visible in the rubble.

“It [the fire] gone already; we can’t really do anything [about it]. We just have to shape up, pick up the pieces, and move on. We find the
Bible. The words are still not broken,” said a woman who identified herself as Karina, owner of one of the two burnt-out houses.

The fire broke out while residents were at a relative’s funeral.

“Same time when I got the call, my mother got the call too. And after I got the call, I got videos and pictures. I could not talk. I just hung up the phone and cried because mi work so hard for what I have and it just gone,” said Karina’s son Revaldo Deans, owner of the other house razed by the blaze.

The board structures were completely destroyed when firefighters arrived on the scene. Nothing was reportedly saved from the fire that claimed the life of the family pet, a Shih Tzu.

Family members estimated losses of million of dollars from the destruction of both houses, their contents, and a large amount of cash that was inside.

“It can’t be easy. We lose everything — money and everything,” said Deans who works at a window and door manufacturing company.

The family said an assistant to Member of Parliament Tamika Davis (Jamaica Labour Party, Hanover Western constituency) visited the scene following the fire.

Family members and friends clean up debris at the fire scene on Monday.