BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A 25-year-old single parent and her four-year-old daughter last week narrowly escaped injuries when their two-bedroom concrete-structured house was engulfed in flames.
Information reaching this publication states that Claudia Moore of Thompson and Musgrave Streets, Pond Pasture, Basseterre awoke early Wednesday (July 4) morning to a smoke-filled house and, on investigating, found that her kitchen was on fire.
Speaking with Claudia’s mother, Beverly Moore, a food vendor at Port Zante and wife of Commandant of the Police Training Complex Inspector Lionel Moore, SKNVibes learnt that the incident took place at approximately 2:15 a.m.
“My daughter, who is a light sleeper, told me that at 2:15 that morning she was awakened by a popping sound in the house. She saw smoke was coming into her bedroom and she left there to investigate its origin only to find that the entire house was filled with smoke and the roof of the kitchen was on fire.
“Claudia immediately ran back into the bedroom, picked up her sleeping daughter and ran out of the house shouting ‘fire…fire’. Many neighbours came out of their homes including my husband and I who live just two houses away from Claudia’s,” Mrs. Moore said.
She said that a call was made to the St. Kitts-Nevis Fire and Rescue Services and the response was almost immediate.
However, while awaiting the firemen’s arrival, her husband tried to extinguish the blaze with a fire extinguisher from through one of the windows in the kitchen, but his efforts were impeded by the burglar bars.
She was in high praise of the firefighters whom she claimed managed to save the house from total destruction, as well as from spreading to neighbouring buildings.
“When the firemen arrived, the fire was rapidly spreading within the house and was also seen as a threat to neighbouring homes but the professionals quickly extinguished it,” Mrs. Moore explained.
Mrs. Moore informed that all of her daughter’s kitchen utensils and appliances as well as household furniture were destroyed, but she managed to save some clothing and other personal belongings that were in the bedrooms.
The interior of the house is badly damaged and is unfit for occupancy.
Fortunately, Claudia and her daughter are now being accommodated at her parents’ home.
According to Mrs. Moore, a police report states that the origin of the fire is unknown, and this was confirmed yesterday (July 11) by Chief Fire Officer Rawlins, who told this publication that investigation into the matter are still ongoing.
