THOUGH Hurricane Melissa destroyed the home which Junior Smith — an attendant at Black River Fire Station in St Elizabeth — shared with his wife and their three young children, including a newborn son, he is lifting his hands in praise and thanking God for keeping them through the storm.

He is also thanking the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) for assisting with rebuilding their family home.

JFB Commissioner Stewart Beckford said Smith and his family are among 168 members of the fire brigade whose houses were significantly damaged in the storm, and who are set to benefit from housing assistance through partnerships with private sector entities that responded to the organisation’s call for support. Beckford again appealed for other entities to get on board.

As Smith recounted the events of the Category 5 weather system he shared that he and his wife, Demesha James Smith, welcomed their third child on September 4 last year, just over a month before Hurricane Melissa struck on October 28, 2025.

At the time, his family lived in a board structure in White Hall, St Elizabeth, and upon learning that the hurricane had intensified to a Category 5 system they decided to seek shelter at a relative’s home in New Market in the parish. He shared that the relative had a concrete structure, but even there they were not spared the full force of the storm.

“[Hurricane] Melissa dealt with the [concrete] house a way. I looked at wifey and I said, ‘You know our house nuh leave back down there so,’ and she looked back at me and said, ‘In God we trust.’ I said, ‘In God I put my trust but me a tell you seh nuh house nuh leave down there,’ ” he recalled, laughing.

“The rooftop up here [his relative’s house] was gone, the window gone — everything lick out — the door gone,” he told the Jamaica Observer in an interview last Friday.

After the storm passed he went to his house to check on the damage, and found his fears were confirmed.

“[My neighbours] said after 10 am, when the breeze started to hit hard, by the time they looked, my house lifted up and everything went. They said some water passed through the area about five feet tall…I have to give God thanks and praise for just following my instinct for not staying [there] and going to my aunt’s, because if we [had] stayed we would be in bigger trouble. But, we came to a safer location.

“At the time when we felt the breeze and everything a move I just said, ‘Thank you, Father [that] we didn’t stay down there,’ because I know we couldn’t manage it,” Smith added.

He said that after assessing the damage to his house he went back to his aunt’s place, where he and his family are now living as they await the construction of their new home.

Smith said he was on paternity leave when the hurricane made landfall. Uncertain about their next move, he shared that his mother, who also works with the JFB, notified that organisation that he’d been affected.

A few months later, on January 2, 2026, a group from the JFB and private sector donors visited his destroyed house to begin construction. An emotional Smith expressed gratitude for the assistance.

“To God be the glory, because I didn’t know that the brigade would have done this or the brigade would have anything to do with us, but we are grateful that they came on board and said they would help their staff members. I am grateful to be the first one to [benefit]. Words cannot explain how I feel,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“Right now, my eyes are full with tears. I am really grateful because…I didn’t know where I was going to start back from. For days I didn’t eat; my brain felt like it did a swell because me just a think weh me a guh start back from,” he shared.

While the assistance from the JFB will go a far way, Smith said his family is still in need of assistance to cover other needs, and urged willing contributors to contact the JFB to assist them.

The JFB commissioner shared that the decision to first assist Smith and his family was made by a five-member steering committee which included private sector contributors, union representatives, and JFB members. All members who required assistance were assessed, he said, and a list generated, with priority given to those most in need — especially those with children.

According to Beckford, an initial assessment revealed that almost 300 members required assistance, but the brigade partnered with National Housing Trust (NHT) to help those who have mortgages with the State agency to receive assistance through its post-hurricane rebuilding initiative.

He shared that the brigade aims to raise $75 million to assist its members in rebuilding or re-roofing their homes. To reduce construction costs, he said they will utilise skilled members of the JFB and donations from members of the private sector who answered the call for help.

“We have received significant donations from, for example, Carib Cement — they donated a thousand bags of cement. And we have partnered with Atlantic Hardware [& Plumbing Company Limited] and they are prepared to give us what I would refer to as a steep discount, a significant discount on the cost of materials, so that is the supplier that we intend to secure most, if not all, the building material [from] that we need,” said Beckford, adding that donations are also welcomed from other suppliers.

He further noted that the JFB is working with engineers and municipal council representatives to ensure that the homes constructed adhere to the building codes of Jamaica.

“We hear the call that we need to build and rebuild better and stronger, and we want to do that for our members as well, that is why we are making sure that whatever we are doing is structurally sound. The need to have these experts on board to lend support to the project is really critical so that whatever we build…we’re not saying it may be able to stand up to a Category 5 hurricane if there’s one again but it may be a Category 1 or Category 2 tropical storm wind or something like that, so we’re building to specification and we’re building in compliance with the building code of Jamaica,” said the commissioner.

While appreciative of the support received so far, Beckford noted that there is still a long way to go. He again appealed for more entities to join the initiative.

“If there are persons out there who are prepared to donate to this worthy cause, please don’t hesitate to contact us here at the Jamaica Fire Brigade. We are more than willing to meet with you to have a discussion and to explain to you what we are doing and how we believe you may be able to assist us in assisting our members who continue to work.

“There wasn’t an interruption in service at any of our fire stations that were standing, despite the devastation that would have [been] caused to some of our facilities and to our members — some of whom might continue to still reside in the fire station — and so those are the people that we really want to see how best we can assist going forward,” said Beckford.

Junior Smith (centre) looks on as construction work begins for the rebuilding of his home in St Elizabeth.

Commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade Stewart Beckford (left) in conversation with Demesha James Smith (right), the wife of Junior Smith, at the ground-breaking ceremony for the reconstruction of their house. Two of James Smith’s children are also pictured.