Fire razes Penal house but mansion saved (with CNC3 video)

Two months after moving into their mansion, Denise Mannick and her family were forced to battle a blazing inferno which destroyed their neighbour’s home in Penal. Luckily the mansion was saved and nobody was hurt. In an interview, Mannick of Panu Trace, Penal, said she was asleep around 1.30 am yesterday when she heard her neighbours screaming.

“When I looked out I see people running up and down the road bawling. There was fire coming from the house next door,” Mannick recalled. The building which was unoccupied was completely ablaze. In desperation, Mannick, her husband Indar and their three sons—Nicholas, 21, Anthony, 20, and Kevin, 17, quickly started a bucket brigade. Using water from the fountain in their yard, they managed to spray down the walls of their home. 

Fire destroys home in Penal

Heat from the fire also shattered their windows, scorched an air-condition unit and damaged the PVC plumbing. Mannick said officers from the Siparia Fire Station visited the scene but were unable to save the house. The upper floor of the house was recently rented to a woman and the owner is in the process of doing repairs to the ground floor. 

The owner could not be located yesterday and was unavailable for comment. The cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained. However, Mannick speculated that it could have been the result of an electrical malfunction since there was low voltage before the blaze began. Officers are continuing investigations.