An 81-year-old pensioner is now homeless after a fire of unknown origin completely destroyed his Kingston, Georgetown home in the wee hours of Thursday.
Owner of the house, Dhaniram Haricharran
According to reports, smoke was seen emanating from the Lot 33 Barrack Street, Kingston property some time after 07:30h and the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) was summoned.
Three tenders were deployed to the scene and managed to contain the blaze, preventing it from spreading to nearby buildings.
The two-storey wooden
GFS Divisional Officer Gregory Wickham
and concrete building – situated at the back of a business establishment – was gutted. The outer structure remained intact while the interior turned to ashes.
At the scene, after the fire erupted, the owner of the house, Dhaniram Haricharran explained that he worked as a gardener and would return home around 10:30h.
That morning, it was no different and his routine played out as per normal, but this time when he returned home, he was left in a state of disbelief after seeing his
The ruins of the house after the inferno was extinguished on Thursday morning
house in flames.
The pensioner, who remained composed throughout the entire incident, stated that upon seeing the fire tenders on site, he realised that the building was burning.
While standing among the ruins and debris, Haricharran explained, “I left home at about 06:30h to go to work and I normally come back at 10:30. But only when I reach here, almost at the entrance of the place, then I see the fire reel and hose working and so on. Now, I know the place burn down.”
Since no one was at home, nothing could be saved. The elderly man estimated his losses to be about $20 million. Haricharran said he would be moving in with a son who resides on the West Coast of Demerara while contemplating his next move.
The pensioner noted, “I’m alright.”
Meanwhile, Divisional Officer with responsibility for Administration, Gregory Wickham told media operatives that three tenders responded to the scene after they received reports of a fire. Efforts were made by firefighters to prevent the flames from spreading.
“We received a call of a building on fire. The first appliance (fire tender) reaching the scene sent a message that the building was well alight, so we increased to three pumps to lend support. By virtue of those appliances coming on the scene and lending support to the first appliance, we were able to bring the fire under control and eventually, extinguished it,” the GFS Officer explained.
According to him, initial information suggests that the fire started on the lower flat and later spread to the second storey.
“Our investigative team here on the ground will be carrying out their investigation to bring us to the conclusion to know exactly the cause of the fire. And upon completion of that, the Chief Fire Officer will be releasing information,” Wickham disclosed.
It was indicated that while there was sufficient water to bring the situation under control, the GFS’s work was somewhat hindered by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) after the electricity supply did not cut off in time.
Wickham highlighted, “There are fire hydrants that are operable, but our tank’s supply of water initially able to bring the fire under control. The firefighters’ work was impeded a bit by GPL, because we still had current flowing in the mains and so we had to be calling back and forth.” (Rupa Seenaraine)
