What was meant to be a proud family celebration has become one of the darkest moments in the Hawes family’s history.

While Shannondore Hawes was in the US celebrating her daughter’s high school graduation, an early morning fire last Friday tore through the family compound on Burke Road, Spanish Town, St Catherine, destroying 11 homes, wiping out decades of memories and leaving multiple generations of relatives with nothing but the clothes they escaped in. For Hawes, who has lived on the property since birth, the loss is almost impossible to comprehend.

“I’m blessed and highly favoured because I’m not mourning any lives,” the 48-year-old told THE STAR. “But I’m not coming back home to nothing.” The trip overseas was just to support her daughter, not a working visit.