Jamaica: House fire from candle claims life of elderly woman

Clarendon, Jamaica: A woman is said to have died in a house fire in Lionel Town, Clarendon this Saturday. The cause of the fire has been determined to be a candle that was lighted to eliminate darkness.

Investigations revealed the identification of the deceased as Fredrica Williams, 81, of Poinciana Terrace, Lionel Town.

Reportedly, Director Horace Thomas from the Clarendon fire department has also warned the residents at a Clarendon Municipal Corporation meeting this month for not using candles to light their homes.

The advisory comes after three families lost their homes to fire in the hurricane’s wake. Locals have no choice but to light their houses with candles, as the power company has so far failed to supply electricity to the communities.

It should be noted that until now, several southern communities across the Central Parish continued to suffer and continue to suffer power outages as Jamaica was hit by what was then a Category 4 storm, Hurricane Beryl. Although it is over, the islands are suffering and on the way to recovery.

Police officials said they received a call from residents about a house on fire around 12:46 p.m. The patrol team immediately responded to the calls and arrived at the scene where they witnessed a four-bedroom fire on Poinciana Terrace. The burnt property is part of the Lionel Town housing scheme.

When police arrived, people reported that an elderly woman who lived here was still in the house. Authorities later determined that the fire was started by a candle lit in the room of the deceased, 81-year-old Fredrica Williams.

The May Pen Fire Department was also notified and arrived on the scene. The team tried to put out the fire and after it cooled, the charred remains of an elderly woman were found in her room and taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

However, investigations are still ongoing to calculate the exact value of the damage caused.