Fire at Casa Bannatyne

Dense clouds of black, acrid smoke swirled around inside Casa Bannatyne during the late afternoon of 9th February 2010. A fire - believed to have been caused by an electrical fault - had broken out in a store room of Funvini’s residential home in Medellín. Smoke-detectors in various parts of the house sounded their alarms, and the fire-brigade was summoned. Fortunately, there were no children in the building at the time, and all the adults who were there escaped unscathed.

Security guards and employees from Funvini fought the blaze with fire-extinguishers and managed to prevent it from spreading, but Fr Peter had to order the house to be evacuated because of the danger from the smoke. However, when the fire-brigade arrived they succeeded in quenching the flames before they had taken hold of the building.

“Our staff all behaved with calmness and courage,” Fr Peter reported. “And I must pay a glowing tribute to Medellín’s fire-brigade for their bravery and professionalism. I would also like to thank the police for their rapid response to our call for help. Their Colonel even came in person to see if we needed any further assistance.”

“This has been a very frightening incident, but we must thank God that it was not infinitely worse,” said Fr Peter. “Now we must learn any lessons that it has to teach us, and get on with the work of clearing up.”

“Although there has been a good deal of smoke-damage in the house, the fire does not appear to have caused much structural harm. The building was properly insured, and we hope that this will cover the cost of repairs, replacements and redecoration.

Fr Peter’s Forthcoming Visit To The UK

Fr Peter Walters will be making a fund-raising visit to the UK from
February 25th to March 21st. He will be preaching and making Appeals at the following venues, please ring: 01302 858369 for all enquires:

February 27th and 28th:
St Columkill’s, Rutherglen, Glasgow.

Saturday 27th:
5.30pm Vigil Mass at St Columkill’s, Main Street, Rutherglen, Glasgow.

Sunday, 28th:
9am; 10.30am; 12.00, and 6pm Masses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 6th and 7th:
Saint Francis of Assisi and St Clare’s, Cardiff.

Saturday 6th:
6pm Vigil Mass at St Clare’s, Mill Road, Ely, Cardiff CF5 4AE

Sunday 7th:
9am Mass at St Clare’s
10.30am and 6pm Masses at St Francis of Assisi, Cowbridge Road West, Ely,
Cardiff CF5 1JB

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 13th and 14th:
St Gregory The Great, South Ruislip

Saturday 13th:
5.30pm Vigil Mass at St Gregory’s, Victoria Road, South Ruislip,
Middlesex HA4 0EG

Sunday 14th:
10am and 6pm Masses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 20th and 21st:
Holy Family, Boothstown

Saturday 20th:
6pm Vigil Mass at St Gabriel’s, Kensington Drive, Higher Folds,
Leigh WN7 2XW

Sunday 21st:
9am and 11am Masses at Holy Family, Chaddock Lane, Boothstown, Worsley, Manchester M28 1DN

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you need any general information, please ring: 01302 858369