1 dead, 2 homeless, 8 businesses destroyed in Bush Lot fire

One person is now dead after he was trapped in a fire as three buildings were burnt to the ground at Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) Sunday evening.
Eight businesses were also destroyed in the blaze.
The fire started at about 17:45h on Monday in the heart of the commercial area at Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, Region Five.
Scores of firefighters were battling for hours, trying to control the ferocious flames but despite their efforts, two buildings were reduced to rubble and the upper part of a third was gutted.
In the end, the disaster left one person dead, two persons homeless and eight businesses destroyed.
Dead is Carl Persaud, who would have celebrated his 55th birthday on Tuesday.
Reports are that the fire was initially seen in the upper flat of a two-storey building where Persaud lived alone.
Eyewitnesses said the man was seen waving his hands through the window and shortly after fire was seen billowing through the windows and roof.
The lower flat housed the Nalico & Nafico Insurance office. The fire then spread to the east and destroyed a building that housed six businesses.
The flames also crossed over to the west, where two persons lived in the upper flat, and a clothing store occupied the lower flat.
The eight businesses housed in the three buildings were a branch of an insurance company, a jewellery store, a pharmacy, a bicycle store, a clothing boutique, a hairdressing salon, a cosmetics store and a cell phone shop.
Eyewitnesses told this publication the Onverwagt Fire Station, which is just a few hundred meters away, arrived shortly after an alarm was raised but had difficulty accessing water and when they did had difficulty with the hoses they took to the scene.
However, assistance subsequently arrived from Mahaica Fire Station, New Amsterdam Fire Station, and GuySuCo Fire Department.
Residents also reported that members of the community formed a bucket brigade to prevent the fire from further spreading.
Meanwhile, the son of the deceased, 19-year-old Jonathan Persaud said he went to Georgetown and had promised to bring back one of his father’s favourite meals for him.

Persaud, who lives a few houses away, said if he was at home he might have been able to save his father.
He said he was told that his father screamed for help three times with his hands stretched through the window.
“The only thing that was left was his hands showing,” the grieving son said, adding only from the torso up was found; the rest of his body was burnt.
“Everything with him burn up inside. We don’t know what caused the fire,” the younger Persaud added.
Meanwhile, the supervisor of the Nalico/Nafico Bush Lot Branch, Charles Singh said, “we have at New Amsterdam, Rose Hall and Mahaica and everything is updated in the system and it is a service system so everything is updated,” the insurance official said.
Meanwhile, Ramesh Khemraj, who operated Ramesh’s Jewelry in the building next door which was also destroyed, said he arrived at the scene even before the fire spread to his business.
“The place was not on fire at the time, so we rushed over to the girl next door to where the fire started and started to help her to take out her things. When I came back the electrical wire fell on the shed and started to spark so I couldn’t get in the building. I said if I get in and get trapped it would be more worse. The fire truck was in front so I say that they would help to save the one side wall and stop the building from catching on fire but the water when they spray it, it just reaching a few feet. Right through the hose like sprinkler; it leaking all over.”
Khemraj also operates a bicycle shop at the same premises.
“I had about 300 bicycles at the back there; the frames are still there and some cosmetics. The front was the jewellery shop and the back was the bicycle shop,” he added.
Another business owner, Roxanne Butler, who operated a clothing store, said she was on her way home when she saw her store on fire. The businesswoman said she could not enter to try to save anything because of the thick smoke.
On Monday morning when she did enter the building, Butler discovered that some items were floating in water and others were water soaked. She estimated her losses at $3 million.
Inderdai Jagmohan, who lived in the upper flat of the building which housed the clothing store along with her daughter, said when the fire started, she was not at home. On her way home, she learned that her neighbour’s house was on fire.
“I kept in contact and then they told me that the fire spread to my house. By the time I got here I saw the firefighters were here trying to out the fire,” the now-homeless woman revealed.
Javid Saywack was high in his praise for villagers and the fire service as they assisted and ensured that his home was saved.
“Initially it was a bucket brigade and then we got a pump and a hose out… We had a blackout so the water was cut, but subsequently, it came on back but we had water in the tanks and when it came back on, we were able to use water from the pipe with the pump, so that helped a lot as well,” he said.
Up to press time, the cause of the fire had not been determined. (G4)