Family of 5 homeless after fire ravages Bath Settlement house
Five people are now homeless after a massive fire ravaged a Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice (WCB) home on Saturday.
Bhaskhanand Baldeo, his wife Bibi Nareema Khan, and three children aged 18, 15, and 2 years old, lost all their belongings including a motor car after the fire completely gutted their home.
In an interview with Baldeo after the fire, the devasted father recalled that the fire started around 08:00h when his 15-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son were at the house alone.
This family have lost their home to the fire
The man explained that based on what he was told by his daughter, she was at the bottom flat of the house when she smelled something burning and soon after, she heard items falling in the upper flat of the building.
Upon investigating, the teen said she saw the upper flat of the building fully engulfed in flames and immediately collected her 2-year-old brother and ran to safety. She told her father that she ran over to their neighbour’s house, and the Fire Service was summoned.
The house that was destroyed by fire
When the Fire Service arrived on the scene, despite their efforts to save the building, the house was completely destroyed.
Khan, on the other hand, believes that if the Fire Service had arrived on the scene earlier, their house would have been saved.
“I was on the road selling and my neighbours call to say that my house was on fire. At that moment, I left everything on the road and I take a taxi and I come in. When I reach in, the upstairs was on fire. Nothing downstairs didn’t burn; the house was on fire and they were trying to get the car out but they had no assistance.”
“The fire reel came when everything was almost finished burning. If they came early, probably the house and the downstairs of the house could have been saved,” she said.
The woman explained that they were unable to save anything from the house, and they are only left with the clothes on their backs.
“I can’t even tell you where we will be staying… I don’t know if you if I will be staying by my mother because right now my mother lost her brother and she doesn’t even know what is going on,” she explained.
An investigation was launched to determine the origin of the fire.
If anyone would like to reach out to assist this family, they are asked to make contact the following numbers: 592-650-8295 and 592-653-3169.
