A 51-year-old woman and her five-year-old granddaughter narrowly escaped injury early Thursday morning after their bedroom caught fire in what police are treating as a suspected arson.

Around 2:20 a.m., the victim, asleep with her granddaughter at their home on Cyprus Drive, Picton Road Extension, was awakened by a loud noise and discovered her mattress and curtains on fire. She and her granddaughter fled the room and alerted her 21-year-old son, who was at home with other grandchildren aged 14, 8, 6, and 2. He managed to extinguish the blaze using water.

Police officers from the Sangre Grande Police Station responded and found partially burnt items, broken glass bottles, scattered channa, and a piece of cloth soaked in what appeared to be gas in the bedroom and kitchen. One bottle had been set alight and was also extinguished.