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A fire this morning destroyed a home on Gladden Street in the Lake Independence area. But the Fire Department isn’t investigating its cause because it was a straight up case of arson. Police and fire officials say that Lorraine Harris was locked out of her house by her common law husband and so this morning around 8 she clambered in through a window and simply lit it on fire. Keith Swift has the rest of the story of arson which is shaded with the tale of one man’s heartbreak and his lady’s hard-living ways.

Keith Swift Reporting,
At 10 am when we got on Gladden Street the ash was still smouldering and a small portion of the house was still burning. But by then most of it had already been destroyed. The home’s owner Jonathon White says he left home at 7:30.

Jonathon White, Fire Victim
“I was by the Civic Center where I always wash vehicles and about 8:30 I was there and of my neighbours alert me and told me to let’s go back to your house because Dungu burnt down your house. By the time I reached here, the house was totally burnt, totally burnt.”

White says he lost everything – his appliances, power tools, and clothes. And so who started the fire? Well he says it was his common-law wife of 13 years, Lorraine Harris known as Dungu – the woman he built the house for. He says she did it in a drunken rage.

Jonathon White,
“I believe she have a problem with drinking and at the moment when she got up this morning she was drunk because sometimes she just goes and drink and she feels guilty and is afraid to come home because when she comes home I would sit her down and talk to her and tell her that if she wants to drink she can drink home. She doesn’t need to go out on street, she can sit home and drink. This day when I left to go to work she wasn’t here, she didn’t come. So I put the padlock on it and I left the verandah open so she could come in and lie down up here, normal thing, so when I come in the evening everything normal. But I don’t know why she tripped this time but I believe it is rum. I believe it is rum.”

Keith Swift,
“But this is something she planned because she took out her clothes before setting it on fire.”

Jonathon White,
“Yes she wilfully did it and she know what she did but I know she did it while she was high. She know what she did because she took out that window there, put the bucket there, climbed into the house, and set the house on fire.”

But there is a twist – their neighbour Kathleen Garey says that she too had been threatened.

Kathleen Garey, Neighbour
“The lady said she would burn down my house too.”

Keith Swift,
“Why?”

Kathleen Garey,
“I don’t know what is going on between she and her husband. That is their thing.”

Keith Swift,
“So how you got involved?”

Kathleen Garey,
“All the time they are at my house the drink, we are there hanging out. But she is always here and there the go drink. Well she says she will burn down my house and I have five pickney and I don’t want her to burn down my house.”

Keith Swift,
“So are you afraid that she will do it?”

Kathleen Garey,
“She could do it to me too. She could do it to anybody else.”

And we know she did it because according to the Fire Department, Lorraine Harris confessed.

Michael Middleton, Fire Department
“Miss Harris admitted to both fire personnel and police personnel that she came and she made entry into the house through the kitchen window and set the house on fire.”

Keith Swift,
“Did she say what she used?”

Michael Middleton,
“She just mentioned that she lit an area in the hall.”

Keith Swift,
“Any other information you can give us?”

Michael Middleton,
“Well it is a closed case.”

But it’s not a closed case for Jonathon White. He has nowhere to sleep tonight, all his possessions are gone, and it is his common-law wife to blame.

Jonathon White,
“She didn’t want for nothing Keith. Everyday I wash cars just to make her eat because we have everything in this house, everything. This house had carpet back to front you know, this had carpet in every room. She had everything in here and she took everything from me. She took everything. I am out of door right now and I don’t know where I will go but I won’t do anything drastic. I will take it one day at a time.

I am a tough man and I can’t lie down and dead. I will build back the house because I built it from scratch. I want to ask anybody to help me. All I need is materials.”

Lorraine Harris was arrested this morning and arraigned this afternoon for arson. Despite her confession to police, no plea was taken because the matter is indictable. She was granted bail of $5,000 which she was unable to meet. She was remanded her next court date will be December 16th. As for Jonathon White, he needs help with materials to begin rebuilding his home and his life. He can be contacted at Euston Dawson store on Central American Boulevard.