A 63-year-old woman is homeless but lucky to be alive tonight after a fire gutted her home in lord's bank village yesterday evening. Norma Flores didn't save anything but as we found out, she is lucky to have escaped alive from the place she called home for 15 years.
Keith Swift Reporting, [keithkswift@gmail.com]
63-year-old Norma Flores woke up yesterday evening to this: her two bedroom bungalow house in Lord's Bank Village on fire. The frightened great grandmother
scrambled to save herself and her 5-year-old great grand son.
Norma Flores, Fire Victim
"I was sleeping on the settee and when I woke up I saw smoke. When I looked in my room, the window ketch, my bed ketch, and then I grabbed my grandson and I came outside. I called my neighbor and my neighbor came. Then afterwards the man who talks over the TV, he came and he brought the thing for the water." [Cries]
Norma left the house with only the clothes on her back. This morning we surveyed the damage with her son James Marin who gave us his assessment.
James Marin, Son of Fire Victim
"This is a completely destroyed building."
He's right: everything was charred. All we found this morning was ashes, rubbles,
and remains of what was - from kitchen appliances like her stove and refrigerator right down to her clothes.
James Marin,
"About 5 pm I went to work. I reached at work and I received a call that my mother's house is on fire through Lord's Bank Road. So what they did was they let me leave my workplace so I reached here about fifteen minutes later. When I reached here, I saw the house completely on fire. My mother was outside along with my grandson."
Keith Swift,
Is anything in here salvageable?
James Marin,
"All the contents inside are destroyed."
And looking at what's left, Norma and her family are happy she even made it out alive.
Both the fire and police departments continue to investigate. Norma Flores has sought refuge at her sister's home on Lakeview Street. Anyone wishing to offer help can contact the family there. The house was insured but the contents were not.
