A fire on Thursday ravaged the home of 72-year-old Norbee Khan at Lot 633 Number 1 Village Corentyne, completely destroying most, if not all, of her belongings, and leaving her homeless.
The septuagenarian, who is also a pensioner, used to operate a small business on the premises. She says she will now have to start anew following the incident.
Norbee Khan recalled being alerted to the fire by a neighbour, and managing to save only a bag with a few important items.
Her son Wasir Khan, who moved out of the house a few months ago, said when
The house that was destroyed by the fire on Thursday
he arrived on scene the building was already engulfed.
“I saw the fire was upstairs and I try to save the downstairs, but I couldn’t save the downstairs, because the fire was too much,” he lamented.
He blames the Guyana Power and Light for the disaster, which he believes was electrical in nature.
“There was a blackout, and when the current come on there was a sparking at the front, and then it run through and went to the back where all the fuses and everything (are) and then (the fire) start from the back room,” the man related.
Residents have been very critical of the reaction time of the Guyana Fire Service
72-year-old Norbee Khan
(GFS), saying that when the GFS arrived on scene, the building was almost destroyed.
Station Officer Clive McDonald, who is in charge on the New Amsterdam Fire Station and is the second in command of the GFS Berbice Division, explained that his officers had been misdirected. McDonald said that when the GFS had received new direction, a unit from the Rose Hall Town Fire Department was dispatched, and when it arrived on scene, the building was already engulfed.
“Immediately the crew went into operation to stop fire spread and control the fire, working from the tank supply”, he said. He acknowledged the presence of a unit from the Albion Sugar Estate when his men would have arrived on the scene, and noted that the initial crew had been able to prevent the blaze from spreading.
