Fire displaces Clarendon family

At age 71, Isaiah Wright was contented with going to his field in the days, getting his meals at regular intervals and resting comfortably in his bed at nights. However, owing to a February 23 fire which destroyed his house, the senior citizen's life has been severely disrupted.

Wright's daughter's house was also razed in the blaze, and members of his family are now scattered across the community of Mocho in Clarendon.

"Everything gone, [a] just dis yah suit whey mi have on. Up to last week somebody carry clothes fi mi," Wright said as he made the plea for assistance to get back on his feet.

Wright said that on the day of his great misfortune, he was on his way home from his fields when he noticed thick, black smoke going up in the air. He recalled hearing a young man shouting that a house was on fire.

"Mi move on same time and when mi reach, mi see nobody couldn't face it," Wright said. Two houses in his yard were engulfed. The fire department was summoned and one unit turned up to perform cooling down operations. Nothing was saved.

"I need help to put back something that mi can go back and live at my house again. A need somewhere big enough that my children can come back. I'm getting very old and mi need somebody fi stay where mi is, that if anything I can get help," the senior said.

The two houses -- a one bedroom made of concrete blocks, and a three-bedroom board house -- accommodated 11 people, inclusive of five teenagers, as well a four, seven and 12-year-old.

Wright is currently living with his daughter Carlene in a two-bedroom house in the community. The elderly Wright now shares a room with his daughter's stepson.

"It's very uncomfortable for him. He is used to his own privacy, now he has to be sharing rooms, sharing bed and stuff like that," she said.

The fire took place exactly one year to the date that Wright's wife, Linnette, was buried. Carlene said that the family has still not recovered from the expenses associated with the funeral.

"It's not easy for us to put things together. Everything would have gone into funeral expenses, plus she was sick for a while and money was spending," Carlene said.

"I am pleading for anyone out there who can help with some material so we can start. Once we get the material, then we can put things together to start a foundation for him that he can be happy again," she appealed.

Carlene Wright may be contacted via telephone at (876) 461-8436.