Fire victim grateful for life after blaze takes home

Surrounded by family and friends only a few steps away from the ashes of what was once his home for more than 40 years, Paul Williams found the strength to laugh as he observed the destruction.

Around 10 a.m. yesterday, a fire erupted in Williams' three-bedroom house. It destroyed everything inside, as well as one of his carpentry shops adjacent to the house. Williams was one of six people living in the yard with five houses spanning from one end of Price Lane to Text Lane in central Kingston. However, firefighters were able to stop the blaze before it spread to neighbouring houses. Still shocked and confused, Williams told THE STAR that he had no idea what could have started the fire just moments after he left home.

"Mi a seh a cyaah my house because mi know seh mi nuh leave nothing plug in. Mi nuh leave nuh stove on. But then mi see the smoke and a suh mi run off towards the house," Williams said.

"Yuh see when mi pull the lock suh and come suh, the shop black, the yard black. But mi still run guh up and try pull the room door, but the heat tek mi suh mi try fi guh round pan the side but the heat come back again," Williams added.

He also told THE STAR that he attempted to out the fire but the blaze was far more than he could handle.

"The only thing weh mi could a do was try save the next shop. Mi couldn't duh nothing more. Mi did just affi accept seh mi house done," Williams added. But he is adamant that he will be okay.

"I'm good enuh, because mi have life," he said with a smile, adding that he will now be staying with one of his three daughters until he can rebuild.