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A for­got­ten lit mos­qui­to coil is be­lieved to have caused a fire that de­stroyed the Moru­ga home of 67-year-old pen­sion­er John Brave­boy.

“I was at home sleep­ing. I heard crack­ling and re­alised the house was on fire,” Brave­boy re­called. He lived alone at Ed­ward Trace, Basse Terre.

The fire start­ed in the kitchen area where he had ear­li­er lit a mos­qui­to re­pel­lent coil. “I held it for a while then I rest it on a con­densed milk pan and I went to bed. I be­lieve that was what caused the fire,” he said. The wood­en house was quick­ly en­gulfed. “I tried to put on a hose to con­tain the fire. As soon as I plugged in the pump, the break­er tripped. The pump couldn’t work,” he re­called.