A family of nine from Parika, East Bank Essequibo are now homeless after fire of unknown origin destroyed their home.
According to Tandy Barrow, an occupant in the upper flat of the Lot 237 Railway Line home, she lived there with her mother and her two children, ages five and seven.
The destroyed structure of the Parika home
The occupants of the lower flat were Barrow’s cousin and her boyfriend along with three children. It was highlighted to Guyana Times that these persons would hardly be home.
According to Barrow’s recollection of the night, it was approximately 21:00h when she caught wind of the scent of diesel and kerosene as she was washing wares in the kitchen.
Barrow stated that at the time, her boyfriend was visiting the home and so she informed him of the unusual scent she smelled.
The woman related that less than a minute later, her cousin’s boyfriend approached the home and quickly related to her that flames were visible inside the lower flat, which was not occupied at the time.
“I look up the road and see my cousin’s guy coming and he came in the yard and told me that he’s seeing red flames from inside, downstairs …I turn around to tell my boyfriend and saw the smoke in the bathroom and smoke in the rooms,” Barrow noted.
In a distraught state, Barrow told Guyana Times that it was then she started screaming. She indicated that it was with the help of her boyfriend, who opted to break the window and jump to safety since the stairways were blocked with flames, that she and her children are alive with only minor injuries.
She said: “My boyfriend collect the kids and when we went to the back, it was already in thick, black smoke. We run to the front, it was the same. By the time we run back to the room, the whole house was in deep, black smoke. It started cutting breath because I remember at one time I didn’t know whether to breathe, I just didn’t know what to do cause I felt like I was getting delirious or something.”
Barrow then said that it was her boyfriend who “started breaking the windows and I remember jumping through and I really thought he would have jumped with the kids because they were holding on to him but he thought I had my daughter and he just jumped with my son. But my daughter jump by herself. We all made it out safe.”
She highlighted that every possession she had was lost in the fire. She also noted that she suffered numerous scrapes and cuts, some of which required sutures and her daughter suffered a laceration to her wrist. However, King, her boyfriend was currently bedridden due to what she described as a spinal injury which he suffered after jumping from the burning building.
The police are still investigating the matter to determine its origin but Barrow noted that she suspected arson, since her relatives who occupy the lower flat had informed them sometime back that they had been receiving threats from anonymous persons.
