A passerby calls for help as the Musgrave Girls' Home on Lady Musgrave Road in St. Andrew is engulfed in flames yesterday afternoon. The fire was brought under control by firemen from the Half-Way Tree Fire Station. -Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Fire yesterday afternoon gutted the Musgrave Girls' Home in St. Andrew but the 25 girls there were not hurt.

District Officer at the Half-Way Tree Fire Station, Nigel Cox, said the fire started shortly after midday. He said that, on arrival, the entire structure was engulfed in flames but the fire was controlled by three fire units from the Half-Way Tree Fire Station with support of units from the York Park station.

Mauline Muir, a house mother at the home, said that she was alerted by one of the girls that the building was on fire. She said the girls were quickly ushered out of the facility; a few items such as a refrigerator, settee, computer and other equipment were saved from the blaze. However, other valuable items, including clothing and records, were destroyed.

A traumatic experience

For Erica, one of the girls at the home, who is physically challenged, it was a traumatic experience. "I was asleep when I was awakened by shouts of 'fire! fire!',"she said. "Then the nurse and the girls dem put me in the chair and when me come out one of the post drop down in front of me and me swear me dead."

The damage has been estimated at $18 million and the fire is suspected to have been caused by an electrical problem.

Meanwhile, the firemen were hampered by a defective fire hydrant, which forced them to call four other units to control the blaze.

Minister of Health, Horace Dalley, who arrived shortly after the fire started, said the girls were relocated to the Marigold Children's Home. "The most important thing for me, as Minister of Health, is that the children are safe," he said.

Mr. Dalley said he would be arranging a temporary holding area for the girls.

The Musgrave Girls' Home houses 40 girls who are wards of the state.