Cummings Lodge fire: 8-year-old succumbs to injuries

Eight-year-old Jermaine Johnson, who was severely injured in a fire which destroyed his grandmother’s home, has succumbed to his injuries.
The Guyana Fire Service reported on Sunday that Johnson, who was injured during a fire on Friday morning, died on Saturday.
Johnson along with his 75-year-old grandmother Lynette Gray had received severe burns, while a four-year-old child also sustained minor burns from the blaze that left six homeless.
Guyana Times had reported on Saturday, that six persons are now homeless after a fire suspected to be electrical in nature gutted a South Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown home.

Reports are at about 02:43h, the Fire Service received a call and was alerted to a fire at Lot 873 South Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown.
According to the Guyana Fire Service, water tenders from the Campbellville, Alberttown, and Central Fire Stations responded to the scene, where it was observed that a two-storey wooden and concrete house was engulfed in smoke and flames.
The building was owned by Gray and was occupied by herself and five others.
As a result of the fire, the building and its contents were destroyed.
According to the GFS, the suspected cause of the fire is an electrical fan that overheated and ignited nearby combustible materials.
On Saturday, Commander Regional Division 4A, Simon Mc Bean; Deputy Commander, J Barker; Human Resource Officer, J Sullivan; OC #3, A Fredericks; Imam Persaud and Pastor Vigilance of the Cop and Faith and other ranks of the Division, visited Gray, Johnson Jnr, and five-year-old Jaliyah Johnson, at the Georgetown Public Hospital to offer prayers, words of encouragement and to donate some household items.
Aliyah Johnson and Jermaine Johnson Snr, mother and father, respectively, of Jermaine Jnr and Jaliyah, thanked the Commander and team for the gesture, the GPF had stated.
The Commander had also pledged to donate more items to them which will assist them during this time.
The Guyana Fire Service had said that it is noting the prevalence of electrical fires and admonished citizens to exercise caution and equip their homes with the necessary fire suppression tools (extinguishers, smoke detectors).
According to the GFS, some of the main contributing factors to electrical fires include illegal connections; overloading of circuits; slack connections; malfunctioning of electrical appliances and inferior drop cords or circuit strips.
“Electrical fires are especially dangerous because they can happen at any time if enough care and attention are not exercised towards electrical outlets and appliances,” the GFS said on Friday evening.