ricardo makyn - Angella Wilson (right), and her friend Tamara sit with a child in the charred remains of the house that was damaged by fire on Sunday night.

Several people who were made homeless by a fire on Gem Road on Sunday night are now asking for the public's help to get back on their feet.

Three women, five children and an elderly man, all lived in the five-bedroom house that was reduced to a burnt-out shell by the blaze.

Claudette Stewart, one of the occupants said she had gone to a house next door to hang out clothes when a little boy ran and told her that there was a fire. "By the time mi go fi heng out the clothes di likkle bwoy run come seh 'fire! fire!'," she said.

She said she hurried to the house but it was too late for her to save anything as she had locked up her part of the house and no one could get inside. An elderly man who lived inside the house was pulled out by residents when the fire had started.

She said everything they had was destroyed and they now have to stay with friends. Angella Wilson, another of the occupants of the house came home to find the charred remains of her belongings.

Stewart, whose four children had to miss school because their supplies had been damaged, spent the day rummaging through the burnt remains. The women are asking anyone wanting to assist them to call Wilson at 416-3471. The cause of the fire is not yet known and is still being investigated.