Beverly Burry was delighted to have met Prime Minister Bruce Golding when he visited to hand over the keys to her new home - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Freelance Photographer

Tears trickled down the face of Beverly Burry as she recounted the incident that resulted in her 'kotching' with friends and resorting to begging.

"The police told me that they are going to take my daughter away from me because I shouldn't have her on the road begging with me," lamented the visually impaired resident of Bread Lane, Kingston.

But she said she no choice since her house was destroyed earlier this year, leaving her family, which consists of her 18-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter, homeless.

"I hear like something burst in the house, but when I jump up I feel the place get hot. I got confused trying to find the door, so I climbed on the chair and called out for help," she said.

Burry narrowly escaped the house, which was engulfed by fire, just minutes after she got help.

new home

Her family is one of the five fire victims who Prime Minister Bruce Golding gave a place to call home yesterday, months after their ordeal in two separate incidents in western Kingston.

Burry said she was a higgler but all her goods were destroyed in the fire.

"At the time of the fire, I just bought some goods in Curaçao and all of them along with other things gone. I have nothing left," she said.

Burry still thanks God because after what is the second disaster she has had to deal with, she is still alive.

The first incident occurred in 1994 when she was hit in the eyes, leaving her blind.

Delroy Smikle and Dwayne Walters, who were also fire victims in the same incident, also received keys to their new homes.

Over at Bond Street, two families also received similar favours after fire razed their homes in May, leaving seven persons, including four children, with nowhere to live.

Golding said frequent fires plagued the area, in large part because of the population density.

no real separation

"People live so close: There is no real separation between the kitchen and the living space and so for that reason, fire occurs so often," he told journalists yesterday, minutes after he handed the keys to the families.

The prime minister also pointed to illegal electricity connections as one of the reasons for the many fires.

The houses are built with metal frames clad with fire-resistant concrete board.

nadisha.hunter@gleanerjm.com