Philipsburg: --- A fire at Over the Bank early Sunday morning left three families including seven children homeless. Residents in the area said that the fire started in a wooden home belonging to the Haitian Pastor of the New Testament Baptist Church Ironce Kenol Castin. Castin was also the former President of the Haitian Community Foundation. The Over Bank fire has left seventeen people homeless who are now being assisted by the Red Cross and the Department of Social Affairs.
Inside the home at the time of the fire was Pastor Castin's disabled wife who is partly paralyzed because of a stroke and his younger son. In an invited comment, Pastor Castin said that he left his home around 9:30am to go to church while his oldest son was also getting ready to leave the house. He said his wife who is partly handicapped was inside her bedroom when he left the house and she did not even know that the house was on fire because it was his little son who informed his mother of the fire and assisted her to get out of the house.
When asked if his wife was cooking, Pastor Castin said that his wife is partly handicapped and she was in her bedroom sleeping when the fire started. Pastor Castin said there are three families living in the house consisting of two apartments. Pastor Castin said that when he and his son left home the house was in perfect condition and he cannot say what caused the fire. However, SMN News learnt that the fire started in the living room area of Castin's house.
Another victim of the Over the Bank fire Eugenia Roberts told SMN News she was inside her house cooking when the fire started. Eugenia said that she heard one of the neighbors screaming "fire! fire!" so she opened her door which was locked and looked to see what was happening. The distraught woman said when she saw that the fire was coming from Pastor Castin's house, she ran and grabbed her bag containing her passport and ran out of the house. Eugenia said she saw when Pastor Castin's wife was coming out of their house and she told the people that were around to start throwing water to put the fire out but another neighbor punched her in her face claiming that she is the one that started the fire. "I already filed a complaint with the police and I will press charges because I lost everything and yet Ice's son punched me in my face. I just bought a couch for $2000.00 and I lost it and all my other belongings. I am not worrying about my loss all I was trying to do is to save my life when this young man decided he will punch me in my face and insinuated that I am the one that started the fire."
Speaking for the third family, Henry Denis told SMN News that he was also at work when he was informed by his son Julian Denis that their home was on fire. Julian told SMN News that the fire started in Pastor Castin's home, he said he was at home doing his homework when he heard one of his neighbors screaming for help and he also smelled the smoke. Julian said when he went to see where the smoke was coming from he noticed that the Castin's house was already engulfed in flames and the smoke was also inside his bedroom. Julian said the only thing he managed to save was all their documents which include the passports for every member of their family and their residency papers. Julian said his brothers had already gotten out of the house but he went back into their apartment through the backdoor to save their documents. One of Julian's main concerns was how he was going to get back his text books that the St. Maarten Academy gave him last week and if he would get clothes to go back to school. "I am worried because I don't think we could pay for all the books the St. Maarten Academy (Academic) gave me and I am in fourth form."
Over the Bank Residents Complained about the lack of Fire Hydrants.
The residents living at Over the Bank were extremely angry on Sunday morning because they said for years they have been requesting that fire hydrants be placed in the area to avoid such catastrophes. One resident who preferred to remain anonymous said that there are no fire hydrants in the area and every time government is restructuring the roads they never involve the fire department, the ambulance department, and the police department. Government is working haphazardly and they never think about the danger people in this area are living in.
We had Enough Water for Today --- Our Men Did a Tremendous Job --- Pauletta.
Fire Officer Silvanico Pauletta told reporters on the scene that his team did an excellent job on Sunday morning to control the fire. Pauletta said at no time was there a shortage of water. He said fire officer Keith Fleming and Dollison were the first firemen to reach the scene and they did not even think about their own safety to ensure that GEBE turn off power in the area before they start pouring water. Pauletta said his men went to work immediately and then someone started a rumor claiming that an elderly woman was inside the house. "These firemen had to refocus and instead of containing the fire they began a search and rescue mission to find the person they heard was inside the blazing building. In the end it turned out that no one was inside the house so they continued to pour water on the fire to minimize the damage. Pauletta said at 10:15am the fire department received a call informing them of the fire. He said fire trucks were dispatched to the scene and while the people in the area are complaining that there is no fire hydrant in the area, at no time were they lacking water. He said the trucks were filled, and they also connected to the fire hydrant not far away from the bank while they also had access to the fire hydrant next to Bobby's Marina and enough water in the trucks to contain the fire.
Pauletta said when the firemen arrived at the scene the house was already engulfed in fire and flames were coming out of the house. "Immediately the first fire officer did an assessment to ensure that the fire was not spreading but then he noticed that the house directly at the back of the first house was also on fire." Pauletta said the fire department managed to contain the fire and two buildings were damaged.
Pauletta said that they know that the fire started in one of the rooms of the Castin's house but he could not say what caused the fire. Pauletta said the Police Forensic Department is busy conducting and investigation and they will release their findings when the investigation is complete.
Fire Men Kept Busy with Fire on Humming Bird Road, second fire started while they were attending to Over the Bank Fire.
The fire department had their hands full on Sunday morning when a second fire started before they were able to fully contain the fire at Over the Bank. The second fire was in an apartment building on Hummingbird Road Pointe Blanche belonging to Elio Romney. According to one the fire officers on the scene, the fire started in one of the bedrooms on the upper floor where the owner's daughter lives. The fire officer Clive Richardson said that they were notified by the police because someone called the police informing them that there was a fire taking place in an apartment on Hummingbird Road. He said when the police notified the fire department they went to the scene and noticed that the fire started on a mattress in the middle room of the apartment on the upper floor. Fire officer Richardson said the resident of the house tried putting the blaze out by using a garden hose but when things got out of hand the police was notified. Richardson further explained that they managed to put the fire out in the house very quickly. He said the apartment suffered some water and smoke damage in the bedroom.
SMN News learnt that the occupant of the apartment where the fire started did not even call her father to inform him of the fire and one of the neighbors had to call the owner of the apartments and the police department to inform them of the fire.
On the scene the daughter of Elio Romney. Dhaheda Romney who is occupying the apartment where the fire started tried to attack SMN News reporter because she did not want her photos taken. The woman was seen crying and hugging her little son while police and other persons including a photographer were trying to get information from her about the fire. Somehow Romney taught that she could have intimated SMN News reporter with her verbal threats when she said I will "beat your ass" for taking my photos. Several persons including a female police officer on the scene restrained the woman when she was making her threats.
On both locations Minister of Social Welfare and Health Cornelius de Weever was present with some of his staff who was busy gathering information and trying to provide assistance to the victims. Minister de Weever told SMN News that in disaster cases the Red Cross would provide assistance for the first two days then the department of Social Affairs would take over. However, he did not want to wait until the two days elapsed so he called on his staff to report to the scene to start gathering information so that they can assist those in need.
Click here to view more photos of the Humming Bird Road Fire.
