Fire razing the King Street, New Amsterdam, Berbice home on Sunday morning
Five persons are now homeless after fire destroyed a two-storey building at King Street, New Amsterdam, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), on Sunday morning.
Those homeless are 84-year-old Doreen Thom, a pensioner, her three grandchildren and acting Town Engineer Alana Joseph.
Reports are the fire started at about 04:30h. This newspaper was told that one of the children awoke and saw the fan next to his bed on fire. The 10-year-old boy then pulled his brother out of the bed and raised an alarm.
Joseph, 40, said she sprang out of bed, alerted Thom and they all exited the building. By this time the fire was spreading quickly, the family related.
“When we called the fire service just the back room was on fire,” one family member said.
The firefighters reportedly arrived in about 20 minutes but encountered difficulties accessing water in the area. A fire hydrant situated 80 metres away from the family’s home was tampered with, making it impossible for the firefighters to access water from there.
Residents in the area said that the hydrant was overflowing some time ago and the water was flowing into the entrance of a nearby gas station. According to residents, personnel from Guyana Water Inc (GWI) were in the area and the hydrant was altered.
The aftermath of the fire
Meanwhile, despite an early morning downpour, the fire continued to consume the building until water was accessed from Republic Road Canal, New Amsterdam. Firefighters finally got the blaze under control at about 06:00h. The fighters were able to prevent the blaze from spreading to nearby buildings.
The building is owned by Rederson Jarvis, who occupies the lower flat and is currently overseas. An investigation has been launched. (Andrew Carmichael)
