Fire at mayor’s house under investigation

WESTERN BUREAU: THE ST JAMES Fire Department is still investigating the cause of Wednesday’s fire which destroyed sections of the three-bedroom home of Montego Bay’s mayor, Councillor Homer Davis, in the Spring Gardens District of Reading in the parish.

It has been gleaned that firefighters responded to the blaze some time after 1:00 p.m., and were able to contain the fire to the master bedroom on the third floor, but not before the closet and bathroom, as well as the roofing to that section of the house, were destroyed in the inferno.

Preliminary reports indicated that faulty electrical circuits in the closet were to be blamed, but Superintendent of the St James Fire Brigade Dolphin Doeman, told The Gleaner that investigation was still under way, with an official report expected later this week.

COUNTING BLESSINGS

In the meantime, Mayor Davis and his wife are counting their blessings that the extent of the damage was not greater and that they still have a roof over their heads.

“My wife and I lost all our clothing, priceless belongings. I really can’t put a figure to the damage,” said the Jamaica Labour

DAVIS

Party councillor for the Cambridge Division.

Davis said that he was at an event at the Mt Alvernia High School when he got the news of the fire. His wife had left home earlier and was headed to her doctor’s office to see a patient.

“It was a neighbour who saw what was happening and called the fire brigade. He called me but never got through, so he called someone close to me, and in a few minutes I got the message.

My wife left her office and reached home some minutes before I did, where she was able to let the firefighters through the main entrance,” he explained.

He added, “Things could have been worse. I could have been looking at a house where everything was engulfed. We have some whole heap of work to be done now because that section of the house will have to be repaired, but we slept here last night and will be sleeping her tonight.”

“Things could have been worse. I could have been looking at a house where everything was engulfed. ”