At least 12 persons were rendered homeless after a fire of unknown origin completely destroyed their home in Limlair Village, Corentyne, Berbice on Boxing Day.
Claudia Ross, the nurse who resided in the upper flat of the completely gutted house
Flames were seen billowing from the house about 04:30h. The upper flat of the two-storey building was occupied by a nurse while her brother and his family occupied the lower flat.
In addition, a wooden building next door, in which several persons were living, was badly damaged.
Dale Kyte, who lived in the wooden building, along with her 76-year-old mother and a two-year-old baby, told Guyana Times that she was awakened by strange sounds. As she opened her eyes, she recalled seeing a glare through her bedroom window, so she decided to check.
Upon looking out, she saw the upper flat of the two-storey building on fire. “I called out to my neighbour and told him that fire was upstairs.”
Claudia Ross, 56, a nurse attached to the Port Mourant Hospital, related that on Christmas Day she spent most of the day at her mother’s home.
She said she went to bed about 21:00h on Tuesday and when she woke to use the washroom, she turned off the kitchen lights and fairy lights in the house.
“I went back and I sleep and then I heard my brother from downstairs calling me. So when I open my eyes and jump up, I see flames in the house. So, I run to the door, but I could not get it opened; forgetting that I had turned the latch,” she stated.
She then opened the glass door and escaped the burning building via the veranda. According to Nurse Ross, she lost everything.
Asked whether she had acquired new things for the Christmas holiday, she stated that she recently purchased a bed and carpet. Meanwhile, the lower flat was occupied by her brother, who is a farmer; his wife and two children.
The firemen arrived at the scene some 30 minutes after they were contacted. “We really need a Fire Service at Whim or in Alness. After they call out the nurse upstairs, the boys started a bucket brigade, but that was not good enough,” one woman stated.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and the fire officials are continuing their investigations.
