St George Mother of Four Seeks Assistance After Devastating House Fire

A St George mother of four is pleading for assistance after losing her home to a fire just around 8 a.m. yesterday.

Thirty-four-year-old Katrina Medford, of Ashbury, St George, and three of her four children were sound asleep when she felt what she described as heat coming from under her bedroom. She woke up to find the house on fire.

She then quickly tried to get everyone safely out of the house, without time to salvage anything from the uninsured dwelling.

“By the time I looked back, the house was done gone. I couldn’t save anything. Three of my children are in school. They lost school shoes, schoolbooks, uniforms; every thing they lost. I have to try to see if I can get help to get back things for them for school. I even lost my work clothes, my documents, everything,” she said.

Originally from Weston, St James, Medford has lived in the house for a year. It belonged to her husband’s family. He was incarcerated at Dodds Prison and is expected to be released next year.

Accommodations

Medford said she reached out to Toni Moore, the Member of Parliament for the area, who sent assistants to deliver items to the family and find a place for them to stay. However, no accommodations were available. The family was given the option to share an apartment with someone but was unable to do so due to three of them having pink eye.

The 13-year-old’s teachers and principal visited the community and delivered some supplies.

The family spoke of plans to stay with Medford’s grandfather in St James last night.

However, a concerned citizen contacted the MIDWEEK NATION yesterday evening, stating the family was sitting outside the remains of their home and had nowhere to go. When the team arrived, Medford was at the top of the gap, the charred remains of the house still smoking in the distance.

Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey called Medford and spoke to her. He explained that the ministry, through the Resilience Unit, was actively trying to find accommodation for the family of five for the next three months.

Humphrey also explained there was difficulty finding accommodation because the usual emergency housing facilities were full and other options were limited due to the number of visitors on island. (AJ)