Burnt OUT before back-to-school
Fire leaves 11 homeless days before full return to classrooms
Published:Saturday | September 6, 2025 | 12:11 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
A large daytime inferno, believed to have started as an act of arson, has left eight adults and three children homeless at Fitzgerald Avenue in Maxfield, St Andrew on Friday, just days before the full resumption of school.
The police and Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) are probing the incident that occurred shortly after noon.
According to the JFB, one firefighter was injured and damage has been estimated at $3.5 million.
The Gleaner understands that two houses and a bar were ravaged by the blaze.
“A one house light first and the others catch fire in no time. People dem say is a girl that lived in one of the house light it because of domestic dispute. Some say dem see her leave the premises and then smoke. Her man use to live there but, from weh day, him not in the community,” a resident told The Gleaner.
When The Gleaner arrived in the community, residents were up and about searching for water to try to extinguish the blaze.
“No water in the pipes. Is like a disaster waiting to happen. Di yute dem get drums and a throw water, all now the fire truck nuh reach and the fire a spread. The people dem frighten and run out leave the children. They had to be rescued and a old lady was removed from the burning house. A because the bar a concrete make it never burn down. The roof damaged, and windows,” the resident said.
The Gleaner was told that nothing was saved from the burning dwellings.
“The school thing dem and clothes dem gone. It rough. No police, no fireman, a just the people dem a fight the fire. Dem nuh have nowhere to sleep now,” the resident said.
An occupant of one of the houses had reportedly just hours earlier bought furniture and appliances, all of which went up in smoke.
Two units from the JFB responded to the blaze.
The police say their investigation is ongoing into the incident.
Data from the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s (PIOJ) Economic and Social Survey Jamaica shows that 1,742 individuals were directly impacted by fire last year.
This represents a 7.1 per cent increase over the previous year.
In relation to property loss, the report stated that this was estimated at more than $9 billion, which is about the same as in 2023.
The figure represents three per cent of the estimated value of property at risk, which is $274.6 billion.
Non-structural fires decreased by 16.2 per cent but remained the dominant fire category, accounting for 83.6 per cent of the total number of fires.