Fire destroyed two homes in Union Village on Saturday morning, leaving two single mothers and more than 10 children without a place to live.
The blaze began around 2 a.m. in a small wooden home and quickly spread to an adjacent home.
The structures belonged to sisters Juliette and Vervenik Rigby, who lived in the homes their whole lives.
Juliette is a mother to four children and two grandchildren and her sister has eight children and four grandchildren.
The women and their children were not hurt in the fire.
However, the families lost all of their clothing, other possessions and family mementos.
Juliette, 41, believes the fire was the work of an arsonist.
She told The Nassau Guardian that her home did not have electricity and that no candles were lit when the fire began.
She said one of her relatives heard footsteps outside the home and then later realized the home was burning.
"We lost everything," Juliette said. "We tried to save everybody. We saved as much as we could save, we saved lives, but we didn't get to save anything else. We lost everything in the fire, both houses.
"At first I [sat] down and I cried because I knew I lost everything, but everyone was okay and I just realized that hey everything is gone, but we still have each other. And we have to start from scratch."
Vervenik said her family was placed in a temporary home through help from Marathon MP Jerome Fitzgerald.
The help came as a small comfort to Vervenik, 39, who cried as she stood in front of the remains of her charred home holding her youngest child in her arms.
"I'm left with nothing, nothing for my baby, nothing for the rest of my children, nothing for me," she said. "It's just horrible.
"I thought my children were still in the house, but God was good. I found everyone. What we need now is some help so we can get back on our feet."
Marlin Newton, the women's neighbor, said the government's Urban Renewal program recently donated $5,000 to help remodel Vervenik's home.
Newton said he did most of the repairs, which were nearly complete.
"I was just about to complete it today and I was awoken about two o'clock [Saturday] morning, somebody told me they smelled smoke," he said.
"So when I look on the outside the entire house was blanketed with smoke and I saw the fire.
"I came running out and to my disbelief, all of the hard work I have done, all of the money and time that Urban Renewal and myself have invested - just gone."
The women said they need clothing and other donations from the public.

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