A fire last evening at Union Village, popularly referred to as Number 30 Village, has left one person dead.
The fire was reportedly seen at about 19:30h on Monday in the West Coast Berbice community in the residence where 49-year-old Floyd Moriah lived alone.
Moriah was reportedly trapped inside the building; his remains were discovered among the debris when firefighters finally managed to extinguish the blaze late Monday night.
The man’s sister, Corlette Moriah, told investigators that her brother lived alone in a one-storey wooden structure measuring approximately 15 feet by 20 feet. She said the building was powered by Guyana Power and Light (GPL).
According to the sister, the now-dead man was reportedly suffering from neuropathy.
The aftermath of the fire
Meanwhile, Station Officer in charge of Guyana Fire Service Region Five operations Sean Crawford said firefighters were able to battle the blaze and bring it under control, preventing it from spreading to neighbouring properties. He said it only took them a few minutes from Onverwagt to Union, three villages away.
“On arrival, it was observed that the entire building was engulfed,” he said.
He said the firefighters were able to get water from an open source and within about 35 minutes they were able to get the fire under control and extinguish it.
“After a thorough search was carried out on the premises, we discovered a body which appeared to be that of the occupier of the said premises that was destroyed by fire.
“Over all it took us about 25-30 minutes based on the amount of personnel that we have; we have issues in terms of staffing; we need some more staff to handle such fire scenes.Crawford said it is still too early to say what may have caused the fire, as the investigation is ongoing.
Meanwhile, back in February 2024, the publication had reported that residents of the village were alleging that a man who might be mentally ill has been terrorising the community through random verbal and physical attacks and were pleading with authorities to intervene.
They reported that the attacks had been occurring periodically since 2016.
Worrying residents had said that the police have on some occasions responded to the reports. However, permanent solutions have never been provided.
CCTV footage from reported incidents shows a man from the very house that was burnt throwing objects.
Meanwhile, residents said that Moriah would normally use wood as fuel to cook, and on Monday seemed very agitated. (G4)
