A couple and their two children are now homeless after a fire completely gutted their two-storey home at Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown, on Monday.
Debris of the house which was completely burnt to the ground
One of the couple’s daughters, 21-year-old Fazeela Mohamed was the only one at home when the fire started. Based on reports received, the fire started at about 11:00h.
The owner of the house, Shivana Deolall, told Guyana Times that she and her 11-year-old son, Gavin Deolall, had already left home and were in a minibus when she heard the driver speaking about a house on fire.
Upon realising that it was her home, Deolall said that she immediately ordered the driver to stop the minibus and disembarked. By the time she reached the scene, her house was already completely burnt to the ground.
“I couldn’t bear it, I make it fast out of the bus. When I come it almost flat,” a tearful Deolall cried.
She stated that her losses are estimated to be in the millions as they were unable to save anything. “…millions, because is a lot of music appliance downstairs, then I have all my jewels them upstairs, I had cash upstairs, a lot, a lot… It’s a shock to me right now, a big shock. I didn’t expect this,” the distraught Deolall told this newspaper.
According to Divisional Officer of Operations of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), Gregory Wickham, a total of three fire tenders responded to the incident.
The homeowner, Shivana Deolall
“The first tender that was coming was on its way to another emergency so it was well within the area of the fire scene. On arrival of that first tender and the crew, they realised that the building was well alight and so they went into firefighting with water from the tank supply. The other two tenders that came, they used open-source of water from the canal and did water relay system,” Wickham related.
The fire official further indicated that the cause and origin of the fire are yet to be ascertained as investigations are still ongoing.
He stated that this is the fifth fire of this magnitude which has occurred within the space of two weeks and, therefore, urged the public to adopt safe practices to avoid the occurrence of fires especially during the Christmas holidays.
He advised that persons should remain attentive while carrying out chores that can result in fires such as cooking.
He further emphasised the importance of using appropriate electrical wiring both indoors and outdoors as staying away from running electrical cords under carpets.
In October, records of the GFS showed that there were already over 700 fires for 2019.
