Romel Hunte is appealing for help for his family and himself.
He lost everything he owned during a fire on Sunday in 2nd Avenue Thomas Gap, President Kennedy Drive, St Michael, which engulfed his home as well as another belonging to a relative, Crystal Boyce, who lived with her four children, brother and father.
Hunte lived with his mother Deborah Shorey-Boyce, stepfather Mark Shorey and siblings Dario Boyce and Daniht Shorey. He said he moved quickly to help evacuate Crystal’s house only to see his own home then going up in flames. “I was making breakfast when I smell smoke and I knew it wasn’t my food, so when I look around I see flames from next door. I lock off the stove and move the gas bottle, then run out and got out two of the young boys, but by the time I get back to my house, there were flames in the ceiling,” he said.
Hunte said he grabbed a hose and tried to fight the blaze but it became “overbearing”. Even so, he said his brother had to pull him out or the ceiling might have collapsed on him. “We are all traumatised. None of us get any sleep. I can’t believe in a split second you can lose everything. We need help, we don’t have anything anymore, so if anyone can help, we would appreciate it,” he pleaded.
Suzanne McClean owns the apartment building which was damaged. She said one apartment was now uninhabitable but at least she still had a roof over her head.
“It was insured and I wasn’t physically hurt, so what was lost can get back. I also want to thank both the Barbados Labour Party and the Democratic Labour Party; both parties sent their people to help me out,” she said.
The fire also slightly damaged an Urban Development Commission house in which Marcelle Cheeseman lives. (CA)
