– 2 buildings completely gutted, another partially damaged
– GPL was recently called to address electrical issue
A Tuesday afternoon fire, suspected to be electrical in origin, has completely gutted two buildings and left one partially damaged at Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara (EBD), thus resulting in about 30 persons being displaced.
The fire reportedly started at Lot 99 2nd Street, Covent Garden and quickly spread to the house at Lot 100, and then onto another close by.
The two-storey building where the fire started had been occupied by a family of nine. According to a relative of those occupants, Davi (only name given), the family had called Guyana Power and Light (GPL) to report a problem with the fuse box on Monday. She explained that the GPL technicians who worked on the box had advised them to turn off the main switch, and they had promised to return.
It is not clear if the family had turned on the main switch, thus causing the explosion on Tuesday.
“They had a problem with the fuse box, and GPL came to do some work on the box, and they spent about 15 minutes. They told her to take off the main switch, which is what caused the fire. She said she was sitting and she heard an explosion from the fuse box, and before she knew it, the house was on fire,” the relative explained.
The family, however, had little time to react, only managing to evacuate the house without being able to save any of their valuable belongings.
“I was at home, this is my mother’s house, I heard somebody saying a house is burning at the front here, but I didn’t take it for nothing. But my friend came and holler for me and tell me that my mother’s house was burning down. When I came, the house was burnt flat and the other house was on fire”, she added.
“…she couldn’t save anything… and we had a lot of valuables there, my brother’s stuff, my mother, my sister, nephew, niece, all their valuables destroyed”.
Over at the Lot 100 property, four persons had occupied the home. The property at Lot 98 had a total of 17 occupants. That building suffered water and fire damage, making it inhabitable.
Guyana Times also spoke to the owner of the property at Lot 100, Richard Ramlochand, who expressed his hurt at the loss he suffered.
“I feel so sad, because this house was a present from my parents. I grew up here, and I am 61, so you know how long this property is here. The building alone is about 10 million dollars, and besides that, the people who are living here, they suffered losses too”, he said.
No injuries were reported, and an investigation into the cause of the fire is being conducted by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS). (G-9)
