House almost lost in Trinmar fireWednesday, April 9 2008
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DANGER: Fire and smoke engulf the street after a Trinmar gas pipeline caught fire on Saturday afternoon some distance behind the Point Fortin Magistra...
INGRID HALL, of Phillip Street in Point Fortin is seeking compensation from State owned company Trinmar for damage she claims her home sustained after fire from a ruptured gas pipeline almost destroyed her home on Saturday.
Ingrid noted that only one Trinmar representative visited the family since Saturday’s incident. “They took Ayanna’s prescription and gave her the medication but I have not seen anyone else since,” Hall said as she referred to a family member who needed medication following the fire.
Several members of Hall’s family were also affected by the fire as they struggled to extinguish the blaze by throwing buckets of water on the blaze.
“I would not like to experience this again. The fire ran down the drain and although it was full of water, the fire continued to blaze. We ran in it to try to save the house,” resident Darreb Miller said.
Miller continued that Nigel Jules, another family member, fainted on top the roof and they had to lift him off and take him away to safety.
“We were coughing a great deal and could not catch our breath. An Atlantic LNG ambulance picked us up and carried us to the Point Fortin Area Hospital,” Miller said. Ayanna noted that she was given oxygen in the ambulance since she was the worst affected. “I suffer from asthma so I was in a poor state.”
“Mummy (Ingrid) carried us to the Petrotrin doctor and we just went home but they tell us to find our own way and we were not feeling well.”
Family members also complained of an incident which took place last October when Petrotrin started digging the area near the house and rubble filled the drains. “It was already rainy season and when rain fell, the entire house was flooded out,” Ayanna said.
Hall (Ingrid) said Petrotrin officials offered her $3,400 in compensation for the flood but she did not accept it. “It cost me $1,500 to clean inside my house alone. There were still the yard and the church to clean.”
Efforts by Newsday to reach Petrotrin officials for a comment on the family’s claims proved futile.
