Late this evening, Amandala spoke with Fire Chief, Henry Baizar who told us that they are looking into the possibility that the cause of this morning’s Far West Street fire could be arson, based on information they have gathered from neighbors in the area.
However, two years ago, Collin Tucker, 37, who once lived at #35 Far West Street, where the fire is believed to have ignited, said he made a number of reports of threats he had received from his ex-girlfriend.
Collin, with whom Amandala spoke this evening, told us that his ex-girlfriend had threatened to burn down his home.
But this was two years ago, and since then they have had no recent misunderstanding, said Collin.
What makes this fire a strange case scenario is that Collin’s house, a two-storey wooden structure, had no electricity and it was not being occupied at the time by anyone.
The house has been without electricity for almost two years, said Collin.
Collin told us that he was at his other home in the St. Martin De Porres area. It was through a phone call by a neighbor on Far West Street that he learned that his other house was on fire. He quickly rushed to the scene, but could do nothing. He lost all his household items and almost all his chickens, along with one of his two dogs.
Today, as we spoke with Collin, he shed tears over his great loss. He has estimated his damages to be over $75,000, mostly in wood carvings.
According to the woodcarver, who has been carving for about 10 years, the home on Far West Street was where he stored his equipment.
Devastated by the fire, he told us about a fire when he was younger, in which he had to rescue his grandmother who was trapped inside their family home. That fire was on the same street, at #6 Far West Street, about two houses down from where this morning’s fire occurred.
Collins’ grandmother, Victoria Tucker now lives in the United States and has not yet been informed of the fire.
Early this morning, sometime between 2:00 and 2:30, three houses were destroyed and about 5 others affected in the huge blaze that quickly engulfed the Mesopotamia area.
(For more information on the fire, please see page 12 of this issue of the Amandala)