Pembroke blaze leaves beloved craftsman critical as tight-knit town rallies

A 61-year-old man is fighting for his life after a fierce blaze tore through a ground-floor maisonette in Pembroke in the early hours of Monday, sending shock-waves through a neighbourhood more accustomed to the clink of coffee cups than the wail of sirens.

The fire broke out at 3:15 a.m. on Triq il-Patrijiet, a quiet residential street that backs on to the coastal town’s landmark White Rocks complex. Neighbours said they were woken by “popping sounds” and the acrid smell of burning plastic. By the time Civil Protection Department units arrived from the nearby Ħal Far station, flames were already licking the wooden balcony and thick black smoke was billowing across the façades of adjoining homes.

“It looked like a scene from Għajn Tuffieħa on festa night—only instead of fireworks it was someone’s home,” said 42-year-old resident Claire Zammit, who filmed the inferno on her phone while waiting for firefighters to let her retrieve her two cats. “We’re used to hearing the sea, not people screaming.”

According to police, the victim—identified by family friends as Ġorġ “Gino” Saliba, a retired plasterer who grew up in Sliema—was found unconscious in the kitchen and carried out by CPD officers wearing breathing apparatus. He suffered third-degree burns to 40 % of his body and remains in critical condition at Mater Dei Hospital’s Intensive Therapy Unit. A neighbour who tried to kick down the front door before emergency services arrived was treated for smoke inhalation and released on site.

Arson has been ruled out, but forensic experts from the Home Affairs Ministry’s fire investigation unit spent the morning sifting through charred furniture to determine whether an electrical fault or a gas leak sparked the blaze. Magistrate Gabriella Vella has opened a magisterial inquiry.

Pembroke, the smallest local council in Malta by population, has long prided itself on being a tight-knit “village within a town”. Many residents are English-Maltese bilingual families who moved here for the open spaces and proximity to St Andrew’s International School. The incident has reopened debate about fire-safety standards in pre-1995 properties, which are exempt from mandatory smoke-alarm rules introduced in 2019.

Mayor Wayne Aquilina visited the scene at dawn and announced that the council will fund a free smoke-detector programme for every household that requests one. “We may be only 3,500 people, but when one of us hurts, we all feel it,” Aquilina told Hot Malta, visibly shaken. “This gentleman used to carve miniature fishing boats and sell them at the summer market. Everyone knew his stall because he played old Freddie Portelli songs from a cassette player. That corner will feel empty this year.”

By lunchtime, a makeshift shrine of tealight candles and plastic roses had appeared on the low limestone wall opposite the scorched maisonette. A handwritten note in Maltese read, “Nitlob għalik, Ġorġ”—we’re praying for you. Local band club members from nearby St Julian’s dropped off sandwiches and hot coffee for the CPD crew still damp from hosing down embers.

The fire also disrupted rush-hour traffic along the Coast Road, forcing commuters to divert through high-street San Ġwann and adding 25 minutes to the journey from Buġibba to Valletta. Transport Malta said tailbacks cleared only after engineers confirmed the structural integrity of adjacent party walls.

Back in Pembroke, primary-school teacher Rita Farrugia has already started a crowdfunding page to help Saliba’s sister refurbish the gutted home. “Malta’s greatest asset isn’t the azure window we lost; it’s the way we rally round each other,” she said, clutching a receipt for €670 donated by parents in less than three hours. “If we can turn tragedy into tighter community bonds, maybe that’s the silver lining.”

As dusk fell, the smell of smoke lingered like an unwelcome guest. Residents gathered on doorsteps, speaking in hushed tones—half in English, half in Maltese—about how quickly life can change. One elderly man summed up the mood: “In Malta, festa fireworks light up the sky for saints. Today the sky lit up for one of our own. Let’s make sure it never happens again.”