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And that was only the beginning of a night of fires. The next one would be on Pelican Street. Again it appears to be arson, and again, it appears to have been provoked by a desire for retaliation – expect in this case, the fire starters weren’t just playing with fire, they were playing with people’s lives. Jacqueline Godwin found out more.

Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
Four hours after fire fighters had tended to the blaze at Muriel Jones Food Shack on West Canal they were back on the streets. Around two this morning the upper portion of this two storey wooden building was a blaze. As you can see everything inside the house was destroyed. The family property was occupied by brothers Jason and Darwin Phillips who were not home at the time. By all accounts it is another case of arson. Authorities strongly believe in an act of retaliation a person or persons set the building on fire. Luckily the tenants who resided in the lower portion of the building were not injured and their place suffered only water damage.

Kenneth Mortis, Training Officer – Fire Service
“It is not confirmed but we have made to understand that it could be a retaliation due to the fact that the younger of the Phillips brother had an altercation where he was stabbed somewhere in the upper torso of his body and he is currently in the KHMH receiving treatment.”

Police report that earlier that night around nine thirty Michael Young and Darwin Philips got into misunderstanding in which both inflicted wounds to each other. Young had cuts to the left side of the neck and right hand and Phillips received injuries to the left side of the head, face, left shoulder and arm.

Kenneth Mortis,
“Exactly who or how many persons involved in actually setting this building on fire is yet to be determined. Both brothers claim that they left the building properly locked but when we got there, we had easy access into the upper portion through the back door which was not locked. If you can voug for a fact that your building is secured and then in an emergency we find that it is open then it kind of leads us to think that something went wrong. We are working close with the police to try and determine exactly the people responsible, whether it may be one or a group, and exactly who set this building ablaze.

The fire started from the upper portion where the kitchen is located at. At that time no cooking was being done so we’ve ruled out the cause as anything having to do with a stove being left on.”

7News understands the property was insured. Jacqueline Godwin reporting for 7News.

Michael Young and Darwin Phillips remain in a stable condition at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.