Fire destroys two John Hughes homes

A fire destroyed two houses in John Hughes Saturday night and investigators were still working to determine the cause up to yesterday.
Personnel from the fire department confirmed yesterday that at 7:55 p.m., on Saturday, a neighbour reported that smoke was seen billowing from one of the homes, occupied by Michael Telemaque.
However, when firefighters arrived at the scene, both houses were engulfed in flames and they could not save the small wooden structures but they worked feverishly to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading to a third building, nearby.
The two homes that were destroyed were adjacent to each other, on the same compound.
Firemen who fought the inferno encountered difficulties during the process because, according to one source, the electricity was still connected to the properties.
At least one officer reportedly suffered electrical shock but was not physically hurt.
Meanwhile, that source told OBSERVER media that it is time that the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) be authorised to use sirens especially when the response team is required to quickly get to the scene of a fire to turn off electricity in the area to allow firemen to work without further risk to their lives.
“To get to the scene to turn off power, APUA had to wait in traffic just like everybody else and had to stop at traffic lights and so on, that’s not sensible when we are dealing with fires and lives here,” the source said.
OBSERVER media was unable to reach fire Chief Elvis Weaver for comment. Our newsroom was told he is on vacation and no one else was given the authority to speak to the media in the interim.