A devastating fire at Enmore West, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on Thursday morning has left an infant dead and a house completely gutted.
The dead child has been identified as three-month-old Leroy Archer. According to reports, the child’s mother was in the bathroom while the infant was left sleeping in one of the bedrooms in the upper flat of the house.
The devastation caused by the fire
Following the heart-wrenching incident on Thursday, the child’s mother Chandroutie Manickchand said that she was not well and before going to take a bath, she put her young son to sleep and then took him up to the room.
She noted that her other son, was left in the hammock and not upstairs as he would frequently make noise to wake up the young one.
“We went in the hammock and then after I bathe both of them and put the lil baby to sleep… then I went and hustle wash mehself… I just go in the bathroom, tek off my clothes and spray lil water on meh head when meh big son come and say fire, fire… I run upstairs naked but I couldn’t go in the room because fire de done tek over the room with meh baby… them boys (neighbours) run over but the heat de too much, we couldn’t get he out,” the devastated mother cried.
She could not say what might have started the fire since no electrical appliances were on the upper flat of the house but in the same breath related that an electric fan was in the room in which the baby was sleeping.
Dead, Leroy Archer
The kitchen was reportedly in the lower flat of the two-storey wooden and concrete building.
Also speaking with the media was the child’s grandmother who related that she was at home in Enterprise, ECD when she received the devastating news.
“Meh talk to meh grandson this morning (Thursday) and meh tell he that meh go cook and sent am because, she (her daughter) had fever… ah done talk me done talk with them and me get the phone call… meh tek taxi and come… them people tell me that meh grandson bun up.”
She added that her daughter doesn’t leave the children and go anywhere while adding that they are always in the hammock together.
However, the Guyana Fire Service reported that it received reports of the fire at 10:25h, and as such, a water carrier from Melanie and a tender from Mahaica were dispatched to the location. The team, the GFS managed to contain the blaze.
The house was owned by 73-year-old Pulkumar Miller and at the time was occupied by Manickchand, her husband, Leon Archer, and sons Lorenzo Archer, 2, and the now-dead Leroy Archer.
The building and its contents were destroyed. The GFS added that another two-storey building owned and occupied by Brian Dos Ramos sustained severe damage to its southern guttering and ceiling due to radiated heat from the burning building.
Fire officials are continuing their investigations to determine the cause of the deadly blaze.
This comes days after 4-year-old Junior Anderson perished in a fire at ‘C’ Field, Sophia. In that fire, it was reported that the blaze was caused by children playing with matches, which ignited a mattress and quickly spread to other combustible materials in the home.
