Sangre Grande fire victims sleep in MP’s office

Toco/Sangre Grande MP and Minister of Defence Wayne Sturge during his visit to Vega de Oropouche fire victims on November 7. - Photo courtesy DesignSkii

FIFTEEN Vega de Oropouche residents, who were left homeless after an early-morning fire on November 7, had to sleep in the constituency office of MP for Toco/Sangre Grande Wayne Sturge as the MP searched for temporary accommodations for the displaced group.

Sturge confirmed the situation with Newsday in a conversation on WhatsApp on November 8, saying the 15 people were given a roof over their heads, food and other amenities, at least for the weekend, as they begin day one of their recovery.

“In the meantime, the constituency office will be closed this week as I will be accommodating the 15 fire victims there as there is a bathroom, toilets and a kitchen,” he told Newsday.

“Hopefully, we can secure alternative accommodation by the end of the week.”

At about 3 am on November 7, residents were awakened to an alarm of "Fire! fire!" raised by another resident who was leaving the area to sell in the market.

Within a half-hour, a mini-mart – where the fire started – and three homes were destroyed, leaving the 15 people to watch as their homes and business burned to the ground.

One resident suffered burns to her arm and a pet dog died in the blaze.

Sturge said representatives, along with councillors Daryl Mohan and Angard Arjoonsingh, were able to secure mattresses and other essential supplies for the residents, while Sturge himself was able to source 30 hampers, 20 of which were delivered to the residents on November 7, the same day as the fire.

“We also secured school bags and supplies and provided book grants (for the children). I will replace four of the devices for the secondary school students affected before the end of the week,” he said.

The displaced residents were grateful for the response of the councillors. One resident, Dominic Homer, lauded the MP and the councillors for their yeoman’s service.

Homer said Sturge put them in contact with several entities and was able to connect them with a hardware, which sent construction materials, tools and other equipment, so they could begin rebuilding as best as they can.

“There are still a lot of things happening. Because it had a structure that remained on the piece of land, but two of the walls fell down, so we are trying to replace them. The MP gave us a lot of links to get things, and he even gave us some stuff as well.”

Homer said he was told that houses could be provided for the residents as early as November 10, but he also called for assistance, noting that despite being in receipt of $20,000 grants, it may not be enough for them to rebuild their homes.

Resident to Fire Service: “Do better next time”

Homer said, while it wasn’t a time for assigning blame, he hoped the Fire Service could respond better to the next fire.

“I don't know if it was the governance of the country or if it is in the fire service that we can blame, but it is not about blame anymore. It is just that they should try not to let this happen again. They should just try to do better on the next call,” he said.

On November 7, Homer told Newsday said after waiting several minutes for a response from the fire service, he drove to the Sangre Grande Fire Station to find it locked and all the lights off. He said after alerting the officers of the fire, he was told they were coming “just now.”

The tender broke down while responding and a crew from Arima Fire Station had to be called in.

Sturge told Newsday he spoke to Minister of Works Jearlean John about the need to build a fire station to service areas such as Matelot, Toco, Matura, Vega de Oropouche and Valencia if the need arises. He added that the Fire Service may need to redirect one of the fire tenders intended for the Belmont Fire Station to the area, as the population of the constituency has grown over the past few years.

Larry Homer, left, his brother Dominic Homer, and a relative assess the damage after a fire gutted their homes in Vega de Oropouche, Sangre Grande, on November 7. - Stephon Nicholas

“The unavailability of a fire tender at the Sangre Grande Station is unacceptable. The situation is indicative of almost ten years of decline and neglect,” he said. “Thankfully, no lives were lost.”

Sturge also noted challenges in securing homes for the residents.

“We located a number of empty Land Settlement Agency (LSA) and (former) National Housing Authority (NHA) houses in the area but could not allow occupation as these houses were given out just before the election and padlocked by the recipients, although they continue to reside elsewhere.”

However, former MP for Toco/Sangre Grande Roger Monroe dismissed the claims saying no homes were distributed in that area for more than a decade.

Fire Association president: More equipment needed

Speaking on the Fire Service’s response to the Vega De Oropouche fire, president of the Fire Service Association Keone Guy said the association has highlighted the shortage of appliances (fire trucks), equipment and infrastructure for the better part of a decade, but it has fallen on deaf ears up until the change of administration.

He also noted the association’s complaints that many of the areas are too large for so few appliances.

“We have highlighted the large geographical areas each station is responsible for. In the case of Sangre Grande, it is all the way from Valencia as far north as Toco and the north coast and that northeastern end of TT and as far south as beyond Manzanilla, approaching Mayaro. The station ground is too wide to have one station with one appliance.”

He explained that the one tender at the Sangre Grande Fire Station was down for maintenance because of a failure in the tender’s suspension system.

“As a consequence, we had a response from the Arima Fire Station, which certainly would have caused a delay.

“The point is, in the end, we now have a lot of families who are now displaced and who will be turning for assistance through social development and all of these programmes are already under strain.

“This is the reason why when people invest in their homes, it is important that we have a responsible government that will ensure that the infrastructure goes along to support and protect investments. That has not been the case for the past decade.”

Guy pointed out that the government has increased the allocation for the acquisition of appliances, which went up from $4 million last year to $17 million this year. He also took note of the Prime Minister’s statement in New York, where she said a grant of $94 million from the Chinese government will be, in part, used to purchase Chinese-made appliances.

He added that the fire service has also received 250 self-contained breathing apparatus sets which were distributed by the Chief Fire Officer about two weeks ago.

However, he said more has to be done. He also called for more fire stations to provide quicker responses to fires.

“We are seeing equipment come in, so now we want to see the other infrastructure, which is the expansion of the fire service into these areas where people have their, in some cases, multi-million-dollar homes.”