A Corriverton, Berbice carpenter jumped from a window of his burning house to save his life.
Rishiram Rajpaul
Fifty-year-old Rishiram Rajpaul made the daring escape to flee the dense smoke which had engulfed the upper flat of the building situated at Lot D Line Path, Corriverton, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) on Sunday.
Rajpaul had used the window to flee after he awoke to find smoke emanating from the ceiling of his house. Reports are at approximately 21:30h during a power outage, the carpenter went into the lower flat to get a bucket of water after he realised the building was on fire. However, when he returned, the smoke was very thick forcing him to use the window to escape. He called out to neighbours for assistance.
The burnt-out building
However, in the darkness of the night, no one initially saw the flames, but the scent of smoke caused neighbours to go to his rescue.
One neighbour found him hanging from the window and was able to assist him to get down. Both men made it to safety. However, Rajpaul was not able to save anything from his home. Rajpaul suffered minor burns to his hair, eyes, and other parts of his body and had to seek medical attention.
Residents told Guyana Times that there were repeated power outages earlier in the evening, and at the time of the fire, which completely destroyed the two-storey building, there was one.
Residents have also expressed concern over the time the Fire Department took to respond to the call for help. This publication was told that the Corriverton Fire Service, which is located a short distance away from the man’s home, took 30 minutes to arrive on the scene.
When the fire engine arrived, its pump was not functional, making it impossible for the firefighters to operate initially. However, they were able to prevent the fire from spreading to a nearby house.
