Berbice house goes up in flames

…faulty GPL transformer blamed

Five persons are now homeless after a fire completely gutted a two-storey, five-bedroom house at Port Mourant, Corentyne on Saturday morning.
Reports are that smoke was seen billowing from the upper flat of the building, located at Lot 41 Miss Phoebe, Port Mourant, Corentyne, at about 07:30h; and eyewitnesses claim that moments before the fire, sparks were seen coming from a transformer attached to a utility pole in close proximity to the house.

At the time of the blaze, three children were home; one was asleep and the others were playing nearby. When the fire became evident, neighbours narrowly managed to save the three-year-old, who was asleep in the house.
Sonata Ernest, who had oversight of the building, said a family of five had lived in the house, but at the time of the fire, the woman had gone to the market and her husband had gone to work.
“When people start holla fuh fire, me son them run over; and the door was locked and dem break in, and they only get to save a TV, because all over was locked,” she detailed.

She explained that a faulty wire from the utility pole had been connected to the building. “Because very often you have to call them to come for this post to the house connection, and now is over nine or ten times (GPL had been called) and nobody never come.
This is a problem we get for eight years. Sometimes you got to shake the wire for current to come, and sometimes it does spark out deh.”
She said one fire truck from the Rose Hall Fire Service had responded to the call. “When they come, they could have saved the bottom but they didn’t have water.
They had to go and bring water and come back. When you tell dem to use the trench, they say that they don’t have facilities, they got to get a generator to get the water from t trench.”
Ernest pointed this publication to a canal which is about 30 feet from the building that was burnt. According to her, the fire unit made several trips to bring water to fight the fire.
“They say that is the system. So I tell them that they need to improve the system… They make a lot of excuses. So what they come for?”
When Guyana Times arrived on the scene, workers from the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) were attending to the transformer, which had a huge black mark, indicating that it was burnt.
This publication was told that the occupants of the burnt house had recently purchased a new refrigerator and gas stove. It was also revealed that the build was renovated one year ago, and extended to include one more bedroom. Moreover, it was recently repainted.
Ernest estimates losses to be in the vicinity of $20 million. According to her, the owner of the building is a 70-year-old United States citizen who migrated over 23 years ago.
The Guyana Police Force and the Fire Service are both investigating the cause of the fire.
Meanwhile, the affected family is expected to be temporally housed at a relative’s home. (Andrew Carmichael)