Fire set with family inside
It was a weekend of fires, with the most frightening incident, at least for one family occurred while they were still inside. Even more terrifying, however, is the fact that now it appears it was a case of arson.
Today, residents of Faber’s Road extension are trying to find out who broke into a neighborhood home, ransacked it then set it on fire while the occupants slept soundly. According to twenty-four year old Marcia Robinson, she was awakened by her boyfriend who had gotten up to mix a bottle for their baby when he saw flames coming from the living room and kitchen.
Marcia Robinson, Fire Victim
“When I got up all I saw was fire because I was still drowsy when I got up so I never see nothing. All I do is grab my baby and I ran out. Cause when I got up, fire was by the TV and fire in the kitchen.”
Although they have no proof, the Robinsons believe they may have been sprayed with some chemical to make them sleep, since they never heard any of the commotion made by the intruders tearing the house apart. Fortunately they did wake up, and so did the neighbors. One of the first people to reach the Robinson’s home was Delroy Menzies.
Delroy Menzies, Witness
“I can see smoke coming from the window and I say to my girlfriend come and help because the neighbor’s house is catching fire. And I tell her like this, remember the young baby, so call Diana and then I run across and I climb through the window but when I climb at the window there was so much smoke so I come down back and I run to the other side. And when I run to the other side I saw fire on the ground burning and the smoke coming from outside the windows, both windows that were opened.”
The perpetrator gained entrance into the house through a kitchen window. At this time it is not known why anyone would want to harm the Robinsons, but because nothing was stolen, it is strongly believed that whoever entered the house was looking for something specific.
Henry Baizar, Fire Chief
“We found cloth with kerosene on it pushed under the window and under the TV. They did not steal anything. We suspect that someone just got there and try to set the house on fire.”
Fire Chief Henry Baizar says neighbors told investigators they saw two people running away from the house as it caught fire. According to Baizar they are also looking into another fire that they suspect was also deliberately set. This time it was the upper flat of Allan’s Shop at the corner of Zericote and Mahogany Streets.
Henry Baizar
“The building is rented to a Chinese businessman that lives, that has his business downstairs. Apparently no one lives upstairs and what we are suspecting that the guys or whoever went there, try to light the house to get the Chinese businessman out of the house.”
Q: “What did they use?”
Henry Baizar
“They use kerosene because we found a pint with kerosene and everything else in the yard where the fire started, but at the same time neighbors also saw people running away from that house likewise.”
Police say at this time they have one suspect in connection with the Faber’s Road extension fire and are investigating the Mahogany Street incident.
