Single mother, four children homeless following fire

Some 16 years after Ovena Braithwaite was gifted a wooden house by public spirited persons at Lot 6 Yarrowkabra, Soesdyke/Linden Highway, it was destroyed by a fire last week.

The 38-year-old unemployed woman and her four children – 13, 11, 9 and 5 -are staying with a neighbour as they recover from the tragic event.

On January 2, 2024, Braithwaite was cooking when the flames from the kerosene stove caught on her curtains.

The family could not extinguish the flames in time and instead rushed to get out of the house. The wooden structure was destroyed along with all their belongings.

“The breeze blow the blind and that is what caused the whole thing and then I had some pipelines that I used to draw some water and that is what caused the whole fire.

“I said let us get out of this house and I just pick up my documents and run out the door. I run and called the neighbours and by time they arrived, the fire was blazing hot,” the woman told the News Room during a telephone interview on Thursday.

The single mother suffers from a disability and is unable to work; she receives public assistance and residents assist her with food and other necessities.

“I so glad that I am alive, that’s the main thing, I am living instead of ending up in the fire, I am lucky,” she said.

Persons who want to assist the family can contact Braithwaite by calling her neighbour on 685-9952.