Fifteen persons are now homeless after a fire suspected to be of electrical origin on Saturday afternoon ravaged two houses and an apartment building at Plaisance, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
The fire reportedly started at about 14:30h in the apartment building located at Lot 4041 Victoria Road, Plaisance, ECD. Guyana Times understands that persons became alerted to the blaze when thick smoke was seen bellowing from the apartment building owned by Shirley Cummings, who resides next door.
The Guyana Fire Service was called to the scene, but by the time its tenders
A firefighter struggling to contain the blaze
arrived, the fire had already spread to two other houses located aback the apartment building, and to an unoccupied house next door.
Cummings told this publication that she heard screams, and when she looked outside, she saw persons rushing to the house.
“I was in the shop in here and saw people deh running. Somebody seh smoke in the other building, and that is what put we on the alert, and we start getting buckets with water and suh,” Cummings explained.
Also speaking with this publication was Rowena Glasgow, one of the occupants of the apartment building. She related that she had just left her home, and was heading to the Mashramani parade when she received a call from her daughter, alerting her of the fire.
In tears, the woman related that she immediately returned home, and was shocked when she saw the blaze.
“I was living in one of the apartments downstairs, and I just left home — like I reach to Kitty — and my daughter called me that somebody told her that the house is on fire, and I let the taxi turn back, and I came back; and everything, I lost everything for the second time. I used to live on the line top with my children when my previous house burnt, and I had lost everything then as well,” Glasgow relayed in disbelief.
The woman, a seamstress, estimated her losses to be in the millions, as she had only recently received a contract to sew for the National Library and other entities.
One of the occupants of the two houses located at the back of the apartment building said he was at work when his wife called to inform him that the house was on fire.
Vaughn LaGlass revealed that the unoccupied neighbouring house, which was also burnt, was recently renovated.
“Nobody deh living there right now, but like they had plans to (rent it), because the house was recently renovated,” LaGlass related.
He revealed that he suffered major losses, as he had recently renovated his section of the two-family house, and had refurnished for Christmas.
“I just buy a 49-inch television, you know, for Christmas. I recently went at the back here and renovated. We had to plumb and so much things, so I made a lot of purchase,” he explained.
He resided with his wife and three children.
Meanwhile, a fire official at the scene confirmed that no one was injured, and that the area often has electricity issues.
An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire.
