A nine-year-old boy was reported to be fighting for his life after suffering smoke inhalation during an early-morning fire at a housing complex in Maynards, St Peter.
The Barbados Fire Service received the emergency call at 3:46 a.m. and dispatched two water tankers and several officers to the ten-unit complex. Divisional Commander Patrick Edwards said the child had been pulled from the burning unit before firefighters arrived and was immediately taken to hospital for treatment.
A neighbouring resident, Donna O’Neil, told Barbados Today that residents heard a loud explosion as the emergency unfolded. She said neighbours tried to assist the family and later received information that the child had been placed in a medically induced coma because he was not breathing properly on his own. The boy’s mother was also taken for medical treatment after inhaling smoke during the incident.
Starcom Network reported that four people lived at the affected unit and that the boy was transported to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital following complications from smoke inhalation. Residents were still gathered near the badly damaged property when reporters visited the area, while police awaited forensic investigators.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control, but the ground floor sustained severe fire, heat and water damage. National Housing Corporation officials subsequently secured the premises while alternative accommodation was being explored for the displaced family.
Edwards also issued a wider warning about electrical safety, including overloaded circuits, unsuitable extension cords and low-quality chargers. He stressed, however, that the warning was a general fire-prevention advisory and was not an official determination of what caused the Maynards fire.
He encouraged householders to consider installing smoke alarms and to pay closer attention to the electrical equipment being used inside their homes. The cause of the fire had not been publicly established in the reports reviewed.
