By Naomi Marshall

TEN residents of Linden are now homeless after their house was destroyed by a raging fire last Monday night.

The top flat of the house located at 119 Self Help Housing Scheme Amelia’s Ward, Linden, was burnt completely while the bottom flat was partially burnt.

The two-storey building caught fire around 19:30 hours after a family member who was playing with matches accidentally lit a mattress nearby.

Owner of the house, Dylon Lampkin, 51, who was not at home at the time, said he was informed about the fire by neighbours and quickly rushed home.

“When I got there, the backroom was already engulfed in flames,” said Lampkin.
Lampkin attempted to save items from the home but the raging fire prevented him from doing so. “I tried to save a few things from downstairs but the fire was kinda moving very quickly,” he noted.

Among those homeless is 17-year-old Mark Miggins, a student of the Linden Foundation Secondary School who is preparing to write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations next year.

Miggins’ laptop and all of his School Based Assessments (SBAs) were destroyed in the blaze.

According to Lampkin, the six children and four adults are now staying at relatives.

“Right now all I’m thinking bout is getting this place clear up… because the place is a complete mess right now,” said Lampkin.

He said fire tenders took a while to respond but commended the firefighters for saving the upper flat of the building.

“They took a very long time to get here but they did a good job when they arrived but the timing was very bad, way too long,” he expressed.