Seventy-seven-year-old Maria Jordan is in urgent need of assistance after watching helplessly as her home and all its contents went up in flames.
The wooden house in Weston, St James, was destroyed last Saturday morning, leaving Jordan and three other members of the household – an adult and two children – without a place to stay. Ten fire officers with two water tenders responded but could not save any of their belongings.
Jordan was at her neighbour and family friend Arlen Reid when the blaze began.
Reid told the DAILY NATION she was preparing to take a shower when her sister yelled for her to alert Jordan that her house was on fire. When she went outside, she saw the thick black smoke and told Jordan to see if it was her home that was on fire. She said the elderly woman could only watch it burn to the ground.
Reid described Jordan as a generous, caring person who always looked out for others. In the aftermath of the fire, she said she opened her home to the elderly woman.
However, due to limited space, Jordan has been sleeping on a bench in Reid’s backyard. Her immediate food and clothing needs are being met.
“I do the same thing I do every day. The only thing I had to do the evening of the fire was look for clothes for her. I had to bathe her and everything because she would usually do that when she got home. I had to look for clothes for her and make sure she was comfortable because she said she wasn’t going anywhere,” Reid recalled.
She added that Jordan was in need of adult pampers, food St James fire victim, 77, in dire need of assistance items, clothes and shoes.
Neighbour Eleanor Griffith said she awoke around 7 a.m. to the smell of smoke.
“When I come out and I get up here and I look across, oh my God, I see the fire burning down the house and the wind was blowing. I feared that it would cause it to spread. This thing had me frighten. My chest start to feel fluttery and heavy and I got scared. The fireman who knew me offered to take me to the ambulance to get my heart checked out because I does take things hard,” she said. Griffith said several of her windows were damaged while the sides and back of the home were singed by the intense heat. She added that a neighbour’s house received extensive damage to its windows and exterior.
Another neighbour, who was still visibly shaken by the ordeal, said she never witnessed a fire spread so fast.
“I was getting ready to go to work and I feel this strong heat. I look outside and all I could see was thick black smoke, so now I wondering where this smoke come from,” she said.
In a panic, she explained that she ran to the back of her home to get her mother to safety. However, by the time she returned, the heat from the blaze prevented her from re-entering through the front and she was forced to go through the back gate.
The woman said she ran and stored her documents safely in a bag to protect them.
She noted this was the second time a house burnt on the same property and expressed concern about another structure being built there, fearing a similar tragedy.
“I honestly feel no house should be built back here. The first one burned down and now this is the second time. It’s really scary,” she said.
(AJ)
