A mid-morning fire on Monday destroyed a four-bedroom house belonging to Stephen Gaymes, an assistant at Gaymes Pharmacy in Kingstown.
“I was in town working and somebody called me and told me the house on fire. I came up and they said the fire started this end. And it was burning and they had a lot of problems getting water by then,” Gaymes told iWitness News Monday afternoon.
He said the fire started on the northern end of the building.
Gaymes said he has been living in the house since around 1970. His father, Daniel Gaymes, also lived with him.
“I am not too sure what really caused it,” he said of the fire.
He told iWitness New that the house was worth between EC$300,000 and EC$350,000 and contained the usual appliances, furniture and furnishing.
In addition to the contents of the house, two vehicles, a small pick-up and a Land Rover pick-up, were destroyed.
Gaymes told iWitness News that he and his family had planned to spend Monday night at the pharmacy in Kingstown, where there is some accommodation, until they figure out their next step.
iWitness News understands that while several fire tenders responded to the fire, they had to leave the scene at intervals to refill their water tanks as there is no fire hydrant near the house.
Fire service failure again contributes to the loss of this property.