Trinidad: Man hospitalised under Police Guard after house fire in Tunapuna

Trinidad and Tobago: A family dispute in Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago, ended with a burning house and a 61-year-old man under police guard at hospital on Wednesday night, November 11, 2026.

The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) said that the incident took place at around 10:15 pm at a one-storey concrete structure near the corner of St Thomas Street and Fairley Street. A 62-year-old Canadian woman was staying at the property with three relatives when a disagreement broke out between her and her brother.

According to the TTPS, the situation escalated when the 61-year-old man started pouring a flammable liquid inside the living room and threatened to set the building on fire. The occupants left the property and rushed to the street to avoid danger. Shortly afterward, they saw the house on fire, while the man was believed to have locked himself inside the building.

Firefighters from the Tunapuna and Arima stations arrived at the scene and managed to bring the blaze under control before it could spread to other nearby buildings. The suspect was rescued from the burning building and is currently being treated in the hospital for minor burns.

Police arrested the man and took him to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mount Hope, where he remains under police guard.

Officers also recovered a transparent plastic bottle believed to have contained the flammable liquid. The container was apparently recognized by witnesses during the investigation.

The probe into the circumstances and motive surrounding the fire remain ongoing.