Fire in Seine Bight Village Displaces Ten Persons

Ten persons, including three children, are displaced, following a fire in the Vietnam area of Seine Bight Village on Monday morning. The blaze swept through a yard that had four houses. Two of those structures were gutted while the other two received varying degrees of damage. News Five’s Marion Ali has that story in the following report.

Marion Ali, Reporting
Sometime around eight-forty on Monday morning, a fire broke out in a wooden structure that stood in the middle of the yard. Drina Stephens was dropping off her children at school when she learned that the house she shared with her mother and five others was on fire. Altogether, Stephens’ losses amount to around thirty thousand dollars.

Drina Stephens

Drina Stephens, Fire victim
“All mi things dehn bun up. I nuh got nothing left.

Marion Ali
“You said you had just left home. Did you leave on anything?

Drina Stephens
“I neva leave on nothing because ah neva got no source of electricity like that.”

Marion Ali
“It started from where?”

Drina Stephens
“Dehn seh in the bedroom.”

Marion Ali
“Was anybody in the bedroom?”
Drina Stephens
“Nobody neva mi di deh.”

The fire spread quickly to an adjacent house owned and occupied by Macaria Arzu and her common-law husband, Rosendo Requeña. They, too, lost everything.

Macaria Arzu

Macaria Arzu, Fire Victim
“I heard a voice shouting fire. So I run outside to see where the fire was coming from. Unfortunately, the fire was coming from my sister’s house. So I took a bucket and filled it up with water and tried to put out her house so I could save my house. But unfortunately, the fire spread and my house got burnt too.”

Rosendo Requeña suffered minor injuries while trying to salvage some of their belongings. The heat was too much for him and today he was soliciting help from passers-by.

Rosendo Requeña

Rosendo Requeña, Fire victim
“First thing weh I grab da my gas tank and I gone throw that way over yonder. Then I come back and I di try grab some more things and da fire mi done deh over deh. And when I see thr fire stick pahn we house and when I try come back, the fire just blaze up me to.”
The mishap has left Drina Stephens needing assistance.

Drina Stephens
“Ah wudda really appreciate wa lee help fi wa lee school things, shoes, mi baby uniform, some clothing and some ah mi household items weh I lost cause I lost lotta things and ih nuh easy.”
While Macaria Arzu could also use some help, she was taking things in stride.

Macaria Arzu
“I just thank God that – I know it could have been worse because if you notice, my house da high step and ah done big. By time fire – the fire done di approach mi but I glad that I come out safely.”

The fire victims have taken shelter inside the lower flat of another house in the yard belonging to Arzu’s brother who resides in the U.S. That house suffered minor damages on its upper flat. Marion Ali for News Five.
If you wish to assist any of the fire victims, you can contact Drina Stephens can be reached at cell number: six, five, three, four, nine, seven, eight.