Fire rips through Portmore yard, leaves six families stranded

A mid-day inferno ripped through a yard in Dunbeholden, Portmore, on Wednesday, reducing four wooden houses to ashes and leaving six families homeless in minutes.

Residents said the fire broke out about 12:32 p.m. and spread rapidly through the tightly packed board houses before firefighters could bring it under control. Several occupants reported hearing what sounded like an explosion just moments before flames burst from one structure and leapt to neighbouring dwellings.

One of the victims, Evan Walters, said she was inside her house when the terrifying ordeal began.

"I heard bow and mi don't know where the fire come from, so mi run out a di house. Mi couldn't save nothing," Walters told The Gleaner.

Another resident, Kadian Small, who lives next door to the affected yard, said she was asleep when the fire started.

"Somebody come bang pon mi door fi wake me up and say fire deh next door. Mi manage fi throw some water pon di side a mi house to stop it from ketch," she said.

Small described it as "the mercy of God" that her home was spared from the raging flames.

Firefighters from Spanish Town and Portmore responded and managed to contain the blaze, preventing further destruction in the densely populated community.

Investigators from the Jamaica Fire Brigade have since been dispatched to determine the cause of the fire. Meanwhile, the displaced families are appealing for assistance as they try to rebuild their lives after losing everything in the sudden blaze.

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