There are far more questions than answers surrounding the first fire of the New Year. It happened around eleven thirty seven on Wednesday night. According to Kenneth Mortis of the National Fire Service there was little they could have done to save the small plywood structure on Iguana Street Extension. Among the many mysteries in this case is that the dwelling which was believed to have been abandoned at the time of the blaze was reportedly occupied by one woman only known to authorities as Lisa. She apparently lived in the building without the knowledge of its owner, well-known musician Wilfred Peters.
According to mortis at this time no one seems to know the whereabouts of Lisa and the last time she was reportedly seen inside the home was two days ago. The National Fire Service says only the woman may know what happened but they have yet to find any evidence that would suggest that it was arson. According to Kenneth Mortis while they have been unable to establish arson there are many other factors that make the incident look suspicious.
Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
The fire burned everything to the ground and this is all that remains of what was once an eight by eight plywood structure. All the household furnishings and appliances were destroyed by the blaze. According to Kenneth Mortis of the National Fire Service their initial investigation reveals that the fire started from the centre of the living room.
Kenneth Mortis, Training Officer – National Fire Service
“No one was home at the time the fire started so we had no injuries
done to nobody. But for us from the Fire Department standpoint, we are still trying to find Lisa so we can see what was going inside the structure prior to the fire taking place. We also know that there it was semi-furnished, meaning a few pieces of furniture here and there, and a stove with no tank and no electricity was in this building so how this fire started is kind of a mystery to us.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
“It is suspicious at this point.”
Kenneth Mortis,
“It is very suspicious.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
“No information if she was seen in the house shortly before the fire started?”
Kenneth Mortis,
“Nobody saw her prior to the fire and even after we extinguished the fire we still haven’t found her so we are hoping it is not a ghost and it is somebody we can go out there and try to find to conclude our investigation.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
“What’s equally disturbing is that the home owner does not even know who this Lisa is so it looks like she took up residence on her own.”
Kenneth Mortis,
“That is something we kind of wanted to believe because as far as Mr. Peters made mention, the place should have been locked up. But now we understand that Lisa is occupying the house and it kind of raises questions so we need to find Lisa to see what’s up.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
“After the flames were finished, you go in, you do your mop up, you try to determine exactly where the fire started from. Have you been able to determine this?”
Kenneth Mortis,
“We have established that it pretty much started from the center of the room, exactly how it started we can’t say for sure. Like I mentioned earlier there was a stove with no tank so we know for sure there wasn’t any cooking from a means of a stove going on. We also learnt that the house had no electricity so we can’t say for sure it is any of those causes. This is one of the fires for the new year that small as it may seem, it still has a lot of questions that are not answered at this moment.”
If you have any information that can assist the national fire service in this case, you are asked to give them a call.
