A fire suspected to be an act of arson has completely razed a two-storey wooden building at South Ruimveldt, Georgetown in the wee hours of Saturday. The fire reportedly started about 03:00h in the lower flat of the house, but quickly engulfed the home.
At the time of the fire, Guyana Times understands, three adults and one child were in the house. When this publication visited the scene later that morning, only the charred shell of the two-bedroom house was standing.
A motor car was also seen among the rubble. A neighbour explained that she heard a banging sound and as she looked through her bedroom window, she saw flames emanating from under the house.
Without hesitation, she raised an alarm. The occupants of the house managed to escape unhurt. The family is reportedly staying at relatives in Sophia.
While the cause of the fire is yet to be determined, this newspaper understands that the fire may have started after the owner of the house failed to pay over a sum of money owed to one of his associates.
The fire tenders arrived at the scene about 10 minutes after the blaze started and quickly began working on dousing the flames. Within a few minutes, the fire was contained to one location. When contacted on Saturday afternoon, Fire Chief Marlon Gentle explained that after the report came in to the Guyana Fire Service, a tender from the Central Fire Station was deployed to the area.
He noted that the firemen managed to contain the blaze. He stated that the fire officials were continuing their investigations to determine the cause and origin of the fire. This is the second fire of the week.
A fire on Thursday at New Housing Scheme, Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) has left millions of dollars in losses. The fire reportedly started at the top floor of the G3 Building, which houses a gym, about 11:30h. In this case, the fire tender did arrive at the scene, but had difficulties tapping into a water source.
As the firemen scrambled to get into fire-fighting mode, the entire upper flat of the building was destroyed as well as certain sections of the second and first flats. A few businesses that are also housed at the location suffered water damage and scorching.
It is unclear if the building was insured. Investigations are ongoing with respect to both fires.
