No casualties in West Street fire

On
Friday we managed to get out a news report while the flames were still
blazing… and in the cold light of New Year’s Day neighborhood residents
saw just how lucky they were that more damage wasn’t done.

Six houses were affected in the New Year’s Eve fire at the corner of Cemetery Road and West Street. While three of the buildings were completely destroyed, three others were significantly damaged by flames and water. According to Fire Chief Henry Baizar, the blaze started in a two storey wooden house occupied by the Cardona family. The building was home for eleven people.

Henry Baizar, Fire Chief

“The occupants of that house were making tamales, were cooking tamales but for some reason they forced a cover onto the pot and when someone went to check the tamales, she actually had to apply some force to take the cover off. While doing so the pot of tamales turn over, at the same time knocked over the kerosene stove that they were cooking it on and the kerosene spilled all over the house and on her two legs. She got some burns and set the whole house on fire.”

The National Fire Service did managed to contain the fire and prevented the flames from spreading to other wooden houses in the congested neighborhood. While there were initial reports that a baby may have died in the fire, we are happy to report the child escaped the flames and is very much alive and well.

In all, seven families were left homeless by the disaster.