Tonight, a man and a woman from Lords Bank Village are homeless. That's after their house was completely destroyed by a fire, and they believe it's arson.
At around 8:00 last night when their wooden home caught fire.
Our news team went to the village to find out what happened, and Daniel Ortiz reports:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
This pile of burnt rubble used to be the home of 37-year-old Kimberly Betancourt. She was living here with a male friend who she was kindly sheltering.
Last night, however, the structure caught on fire was gutted in a flash. She lost everything.
Bert Ramos, the owner of Ramos Bus Company, owns the yellow building directly beside it. His house is nearby, and he said that he was immediately alerted by the choking smell of smoke that had drifted into his living room.
Bert Ramos Sr. - Area Resident/Businessman
"I just saw in the house got kind of foggy, and I smelt smoke. So, I ran outside. And that's when I saw the gush of smoke coming from my neighbor's building' And so, I ran around, and that's how I knew that the building was fire."
The homeowner, Kimberly Betancourt, declined to give an interview, but she did tell us that she suspects that someone she knows intentionally lit her house on fire.
She added that she had been receiving arson threats, and she even claims that this person actually made attempts. Ramos, her neighbor, is distressed to see her homeless, allegedly at the hands of a malicious person.
Bert Ramos Sr.
"It really hurts to see that somebody - a man - could just burn down a building."
"How could a man ever think like that to just burn down someone's building. I think men should be more than that, you know."
Ramos' building was mostly spared by the blaze, but this apartment complex, which he provides for his employees, did suffer structural damage that he will have to repair.
Bert Ramos Sr.
"So far, all the pipes - if you noticed, the pipes that are running wastewater, all the pipes got damaged. The AC for the downstairs was damaged. The side of the the building, all the plaster is lifting. The aluminum windows also got bent up, after the heat."
"The verandah, itself got an amount of damage. The backdoor was damaged."
"As you notice, I'm at Benny's, trying to get the pipes replaced because the workers need to shower and get themselves together for work. This morning, it was difficult for them, but we're trying to buy the materials to replace it."
As the public well knows the norm has become that the National Fire Service is harshly criticized by the victims, for their fire response time, and their firefighting capabilities.
Today, Ramos offered a rare show of gratitude to the firefighters who worked to ensure that his building did not catch on fire.
Bert Ramos Sr.
"With the quickness of how the Fire Service came, they couldn't save the building for sure. But, they saved my building. They saved me a lot because it could have worse. So, I want to thank God and thank the Fire Service."
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