SASCHA WILSON
A mysterious house fire which occurred early this morning at Ragoo Village, Debe, has left a family distraught and confused.
Guardian Media understands the fire broke out around 6:10 am, but according to a family member, there has been a string of unexplainable fires at this house over the past week.
Due to the bizarre occurrences at the home of his wife's parents who are in their 70s, Rishi Rampersad, his wife and two children ages 10 and 4 years, have been staying with them for the past few days.
Rampersad explained on Monday a small fire occurred under the couch, but they managed to get it under control.
Then on Tuesday, another fire reportedly broke out in the downstairs area of the house, but his 10-year-old son managed to alert the neighbours and they were able to extinguish those flames.
He said a team from T&TEC and the Fire Service carried out investigations, but they could not determine how the fire started.
Rampersad said a curtain caught on fire, but there were no plugs, open flames or electrical wires that could have started the fire. As a result of these strange fires, Rampersad said he would keep watch all night and then leave in the morning when his family got up, to go to his home to rest.
Rampersad said he left his in-laws' home around 5:55 am and by 6:15 am he got a call that the house was on fire. This time the fire took place in a back bedroom. Rampersad said his son saw the smoke and alerted them, but it was too late.
"By the time they noticed, and they went up with the fire extinguisher, it had no way they could out it. The fire extinguisher was not helping. It was uncontrollable," Rampersad told Guardian Media.
The fire quickly spread to the roof of the house. He said his son grabbed his sister and they ran out of the house.
Rampersad believes that evil forces are at play.
"After this, I could say I believe in evil now because I could tell you that the fire I saw on the second day, it had no way that fire could have started. It had nothing—no electrical, no wire, no nothing," he said.
However, he said his family had no enemies or grudges.
Rampersad told Guardian Media it took about 15 minutes for the fire to ravage the entire house. He estimates their losses to be close to $700,000. The family has lost all their belongings, including his son's books and laptop.
Investigations are continuing.