Small Businesswoman's Home and Business Destroyed by Fire: Determination Fuels Recovery Efforts

What began as an ordinary day for small businesswoman Talicia Lewis turned into a nightmare when her home and business went up in flames last Wednesday, leaving her and her family with nothing but determination and the goodwill of the community to start over.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY on Tuesday, Lewis, 41, said her road to recovery was slow but promising, adding that the support she has been receiving from loved ones and members of the public has been touching, giving her the determination to press on.

Recalling what transpired last Wednesday, Lewis, a mother of two, said she left home in the afternoon to purchase cleaning supplies and art supplies.

She recalled: “The day was good, I was cleaning up, I had some work to do and realised I had no more Disiclin. I had to go and get some. I also had to get bristol board for my son’s school project. I left home around 2:45 p.m., to go to Dome Mall and when I left there I went to Home Improvement Hardware. When we were there my daughter’s supervisor was like ‘Wait, what is all that black smoke up there, I hope your house ain’t up there burning.’ I was like ‘I hope so too because I just left there.’”

Lewis said she got back home around 3:10 p.m., and was in utter shock when she saw her home and business up in flames.

“I was in tears, I screamed. When I saw it I forgot the ground was rock. I just dropped. There was nothing I could do. I had to watch everything I worked hard for go up in flames.”

She also lost a recently purchased company vehicle to the fire.

The home and business were uninsured.

At the rear of the building, she operated a baking business and her popular ice popsicle company, Happy Treats. The front of the timber-and-wall structure was the dwelling place of herself, her two children — aged 22 and eight — and her 69-year-old father.

Lewis said a lot of people might criticise her for not having the property insured, but as a small business owner, some priorities outweighed others in the grand scheme of things.

She said: “In terms of investment, it was huge, it was massive. That is where the criticisms about insurance came from. I had insurance at one point, but COVID-19 happened and I had to pick a struggle. Yes, I had to get back on the horse. I got the quotations and that was the next thing to do. A week or two before the incident, I had got the van sorted out with the insurance for that and the road tax. The next thing was the house, but it didn’t happen. We always think we have time, it is just an unfortunate thing.”