At least 45 people were displaced by a fire in Ferguson Subdivision, off Carmichael Road, that completely consumed three houses and damaged another three.
A house surrounded by the blaze was saved by the efforts of several men who, while firemen fought the fire behind them and at either side of them, continually doused the home with buckets of water.
Residents claimed when firefighters came after they made their initial call, the fire was small and contained. But they contend the firemen did not come prepared to fight even that small fire. They claimed firemen told them their truck had no water.
Others whose homes were downwind of the fire frantically wet their roofs so that no ash or cinders would set their property ablaze. One man with a two-storey structure rigged a bucket and rope combination to haul water from the ground to his roof.
When the fire that tore through the homes was contained, firefighters had to turn their attention to the bushes behind where those homes once stood, where another fire raged on.
When the flames subsided eight families were left without a roof over there heads and had lost possessions.
Andre Dean, who said his home was burned to the ground, said he had just completed building the structure and was preparing to move in with his wife and their child.
Minister of Labour and Social Development Dion Foulkes, and Member of Parliament for the area, Charles Maynard, were on the scene of the fire shortly after the blaze was extinguished.
Foulkes said they offered the displaced families shelter, clothing and food for one week, until their situation could be assessed.
