The fire, which razed an Agricola, Greater Georgetown house on Thursday, has left millions of dollars in losses, and the family is yet to come to grips with what occurred and to determine their next move.
On Thursday, at about 16:00h, a fire of unknown origin raged through the Lot 151 Katu Street, Agricola, Greater Georgetown, two-storey wooden building and took
Firefighters working to extinguish the flames
less than 20 minutes to turn the house into debris.
Guyana Times was told that at the time of the fire, one of the owners, Makesha Rose, was at a neighbour’s home with her three children when an alarm was raised indicating that smoke was seen emanating from a room in her house.
According to the woman, to her knowledge, nothing was left plugged in at the home.
“When I left the house, nothing was left lit and I had nothing plugged in or so, so I cannot say how the fire started at all,” Rose explained.
She added that when she rushed over to her home, the fire had already spread and was engulfing the entire building. “It burn fast fast, I aint know what happen, but it started in one of the rooms at the front there and spread,” the woman related.
As such, a call was made to her reputed husband, Sherwin Alstrum, who told this newspaper what he knew. “She call me and tell me what was happening and when I come, I saw the entire building up in flames already and there was nothing that could be done. I ain’t know is what happen or how it happen.”
The family is still baffled as to how the fire started and arson has not been ruled out. The Fire Service was unable to save the building.
An estimated $2 million was lost as a result of the blaze.
