ALLMAN Town residents who were displaced by a fire in the community on Sunday are asking for assistance to start rebuilding their houses.

When the Jamaica Observer visited the Central Kingston location Tuesday, some of the victims were seen sitting outside where the fire took place, with their hands resting against their faces.

Angella Fearon, who has been living in the community since childhood, said although she feels like crying when reality hits her, she is grateful to still have life.

“My husband took sick from last month in the hurricane so we carried him to [Kingston] Public [Hospital]. So I went to visit him on Sunday and came back home. I started cooking, by the time I was ready to start washing the rice to put in the pot, I heard [people] bawling out ‘fire’,” said Fearon.

“I lost everything – fridge, baby stuff, everything. But we affi just still laugh and enjoy, we still monkey round, because from we life nuh gone we good. Sometimes when I talk about it I feel like crying but me hold it back sometimes because if me cry that nah go bring back the furniture,” added Fearon.

Petra Gaye Brown said she was not at home when the fire started and when she was alerted, she was unable to save anything.

“I lost everything. I am currently staying with my child’s father. Them come and give we care packages, some bag with rice, oats and them little something deh, that is it. We nuh know if we a get any more help,” she said.

Brown added that she believes with some assistance from the Government or the wider population, the victims will be positioned to recover.

“Them can come and help we with some block and steel and we finish we thing; we just want a start. I will go out there go look a work and help myself too,” Brown said.

Aliyah Harris, a pregnant mother of a seven-year-old, said she has not slept since the fire.

“It’s hard because you just a start your life, me just throw partner, bear me little hunger, work now and then to buy what I need to feel comfortable, and now everything just gone,” she said.

Roy Ellis, who has been living in the area for 40 years, said the incident left him devastated. The elder, who described himself as a “bounty hunter”, told the Observer that he has been sleeping anywhere he can since he lost his home.

“One and two people a give me back some clothes and thing, ‘cause I lost everything. Over there so was my part,” he said, pointing to what was once his home.

The residents said many of them currently have nowhere to lay their heads at night, and said many children have been affected academically as none of them are currently able to attend school.

Bobby Green told the Observer that it seems no one cares, and even the burnt items that were cleared out from their homes have been stored at the entrance to the community and no one has yet removed them.

“No one has come to talk about it or show concern. And not only that, you have to remember the place open up and you know say here so is not a safe place, gunman can run in,” Green added.

Approximately 53 people, including children, were left homeless after the massive fire destroyed houses along Stephenson Street. An estimated 15 families lost everything in the fire. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Aliyah Harris, a pregnant mother of a seven-year-old, in a pensive mood as she looks at what was her house before Sunday’s fire. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)