Click to view full size

Carenage police are investigating a fire that completely destroyed a house on Upper Seaview Street on Sunday afternoon.

According to reports, Clarine La Vende, 61, told police she was preparing food for her seven grandchildren in an outdoor dining area when she heard an explosion around 4:02 p.m. Looking toward the source, she saw a wooden and galvanized structure fully engulfed in flames. Through the smoke and flames, she noticed a figure in dark clothing running south down the hill away from the fire.

The house, owned by La Vende’s son Clevon La Vende, 44, and his common-law wife Mitchel Thomas, 48, was unoccupied at the time, and no one was injured. Their six children, aged five to fifteen, were also safely away from the building, while their eldest child, 16-year-old Joshua La Vende, lives with his grandmother.