KINGSTON, Jamaica — Sixty-two-year-old Letitia Wright began her birthday on Monday by thanking God for another year of life, never imagining that within hours she would be mourning the loss of her home to a fire.

The blaze destroyed the Alton Villa Road residence before midday.

“I just woke up, I hadn’t really got up out of the bed, just lying in my bed and I was scrolling on the phone because today is my birthday. I was scrolling on the phone and I put up some status and I thanked God for sparing my life to see today, and I told God that he is my strong tower, then I got a call, and as I hung up, I smelled something,” Wright told Observer Online.

Concerned, Wright woke her husband, who had been asleep, before heading into the living room to investigate.

“I didn’t see anything, I didn’t see any fire,” she explained, adding, “Afterwards I turned back and saw the sparks, because I was smelling something, I saw the sparks of fire and saw something catching [on fire].”

Wright said she attempted to douse the flames with water and shouted for help, but the fire spread rapidly.

“I couldn’t draw out my things, nothing at all, my phone, everything was on my bed so I couldn’t catch anything, no clothes, nothing at all.”

In a desperate effort to salvage her belongings, Wright tried to re-enter the burning structure but was restrained by her partner, who warned her about the danger of smoke inhalation.

Wright said she occupied two bedrooms and the living room of the house, which consists of six bedrooms and a living hall.

She estimates her losses to include several household items and furnishings, such as sewing machines, refrigerators, tables, beds, stoves, and a washing machine.

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(Video: Llewellyn Wynter) 

Firemen look on at the ruins of 62-year-old Letitia Wright’s home after it was destroyed by fire on Monday (Photo: Llewellyn Wynter)