Home destroyed by fire

A family of eight is counting its blessings after surviving a vicious fire that destroyed its entire home.

The fire burnt the home of Margaret Ambris of Brighton around 10 pm Friday night.{{more}}

Speaking to Searchlight, Ambris explained that at the time of the fire, she was sitting outside in the porch talking with two men.

Ambris’ grandchildren were inside the house, in the living room, watching television.

“They run out and say ‘Grandma, Grandma look the basket in the bedroom catch afire!’ ”

At this time Ambris said that she ran quickly into her bedroom, where she saw the fire, now raging. “I see the fire leave the ceiling…is like it light in the ceiling. I couldn’t do nothing, the whole roof was afire,” Ambris said.

Ambris, along with the children, ages 4, 7, 10 and 13 ran out of the house. Her husband, Clarence, who is hearing and visually impaired, was pulled out of the burning house by his grandchildren. He was asleep when the fire started.

Clarence, also speaking to Searchlight, said that he was in a bedroom sleeping when he felt someone wake him up and dragged him out of the house.

Ambris said that neighbours came to her assistance, using water to douse the flames. She, along with a neighbour, called the fire department and a fire tender arrived some time after.

The family lost everything in the fire – the ground floor of the house was burnt completely, while the first floor was flooded as a result of the water that was used to extinguish the flames.

Ambris and her family currently live with her daughter, who lives a short distance away from the burnt house. She, however, feels lucky to be alive, and that her family escaped unharmed.

Ambris, who says she is a late sleeper, added that she believed everyone would have died if the fire had started hours later. “I feel good how I wasn’t sleeping, if that (fire) had happened around 11(pm) I believe everybody would have died.

Since Friday, Ambris said that persons have offered assistance and have donated clothing and other articles to help her. She said that the Government has since offered assistance and that the cost of the damage done to the house has yet to be estimated.