Investigations are ongoing into the cause of a house fire that occurred in the village of Mahaut on Tuesday.
According to Deputy Fire Chief Wayne Letang, the building in question was located near the Mahaut Credit Union along the E.O. Leblanc Highway.
“I can confirm that staff at the Roseau Fire Station responded to a house fire in the village of Mahaut this afternoon at approximately 2:30 PM,” he said.
He noted that the building was constructed of two floors, a ground floor, and a first floor.
“The first floor was constructed out of lumber and the ground floor constructed out of concrete block,” Letang explained.
Furthermore, he stated that the building was owned by Mr. Charles Esprit who is presently out of state.
“The building in question was in a state of abandonment post-Hurricane-Maria, but was frequented by homeless persons on occasions,” he revealed.
Letang explained that the entire top floor of the building was destroyed by the blaze before it was controlled and extinguished by staff of the Fire and Ambulance Services.
Now the land will be sold ten times to ten different people and the matter will remain in probate court, like so many other cases on island. In the land of the blind, one eyed Jack is always king.
There was nothing much left of the building in question. The top wooden structure was appx. 90 percent gone before the fire. The steps leading to the upper part was covered with reeds/grass as well as the upper floor. The fire could have started by someone throwing a cigarette butt there unintentionally. The steps starts from the main road as well as the grass which covered the entire steps. What’s there to investigate? Such dilapidated house in the center of the village of Mahaut should be taken care of by the Village council. This has been an eyesore for almost 50 years which is about the length of time since the previous owners past away. The other issue with this house is that, dick, Tom and Harry are claiming ownership by means of “inheritance.” Thus, the house remained in a state of disrepair. This is a model in Dominica these days, where false wills and claims are made by people who have no business claiming property that’s not theirs. This fire will keep them all away.