5 homeless after child accidentally sets house afire
A mother of three and her father have been rendered homeless, after her eldest child – a five-year-old – reportedly ignited a cigarette lighter and burned their B Field Sophia house down on Tuesday.
Lashana Mohammed and her children
The property, located Lot 48 B Field Sophia, was occupied by Lashana Mohammed and her three children – aged five, four and two. Her father resided in another structure on the same property.
Reports are the fire started at about 13:00h in the upper flat of the wooden building. The 26-year-old mother was asleep while her eldest son was playing under the bed in another room with a cigarette lighter. Upon seeing the flames, the little boy ran out of the building.
Mohammed said she woke up to thick smoke and quickly grabbed her two children and exited the house in a bid to get them to safety.
“I was asleep because I’m not feeling well and my eldest son said he was playing with the lighter. I don’t know. It must’ve catch onto the mattress or somewhere. The fire start in their room,” the distraught mother of three expressed.
Her sister, Elizabeth, informed that Mohammed panicked after exiting, thinking that her eldest son was trapped in the burning structure. However, even after he was found safe, her blood pressure skyrocketed from the shock.
The burnt-out building at Sophia, Greater Georgetown
“He told them he run out after seeing the fire and leave them outside so as the mother was sleeping, she started smelling the smoke. When she jump up, the whole wall was on fire so she run out with the two smaller ones and then she started hollering because she thought he was in the house…Her blood pressure gone way up,” the sister explained.
As the flames spread, it also gutted her father’s dwellings. The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) arrived at the scene and extinguished the blaze. They prevented it from spreading to other buildings. Persons from the community also assisted by using water from a nearby trench.
By then, the entire structure was destroyed and the family was unable to salvage anything.
They will be staying with relatives until they are able to rebuild. The GFS has conducted an assessment of the fire and is still investigating. Persons can render assistance by contacting (592) 682-3416. (G12)
