RUDOLPH BROWN, Chief Photographer -
Firefighters trying to extinguish a blaze that destroyed the house of Ruby Walcott, a retired Resident Magistrate, at 4 Lady Kay Drive, Norbrook, St. Andrew yesterday. During the fire, Mrs. Walcott's sister, Icilda Sauerlinder, 76, who had been made disabled by a stroke, was burnt to death.
JUST AFTER Ruby Walcott, a former Resident Magistrate, was spared the wrath of Hurricane Ivan, disaster struck, claiming the life of her 76-year-old sister Icilda Sauerlinder, who was burnt to death at their residence at 4 Lady Kay Drive, Norbrook, St. Andrew.
According to Mrs. Walcott, yesterday morning, her sister who had been rendered disabled by a stroke, and their household helper were at home. She said that shortly before the helper began preparing breakfast, it was observed that the bulb in the refrigerator was not lit, indicating that there was no electricity despite the fact that a stand-by electrical generator was in operation.
Mrs. Walcott said she then turned on one of the electrical breakers to check whether the Jamaica Public Service Company had restored the electricity and she heard an unusual sound from behind her in the music room. She then saw that a fire had started.
It spread rapidly from the bottom floor up the stairs while several neighbours and the fire services were alerted. But according to Mrs. Walcott, the smoke from the blaze restricted the efforts of the neighbours to rescue her disabled sister.
Moreover, when the fire team arrived from the Half-Way Tree station, their breathing apparatus was malfunctioning and so the two officers who attempted to rescue the fire victim were forced to rush back outside the burning two-storey building.
EXHAUSTED
Other firemen, obviously exhausted, laid down their hosses for several minutes leaving neighbours to fight the blaze.
According to Barrington Marshall, a district officer at the Half-way Tree fire station, the team would have been better able to complete the rescue operation if their apparatus was working.
The York Park Fire Station also assisted to put out the blaze, which was not extinguished until after 10.30 a.m. An estimate of the damage was not immediately available.
Shortly after the fire occurred, several members of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), headed by party leader Edward Seaga visited with Mrs. Walcott, also a former JLP caretaker for St. Catherine East Central, to offer their support.