A fire suspected to be electrical in origin completely destroyed the upper flat of a two-storey wooden and concrete building at Princess Street, Georgetown, on Thursday. According to the caretaker of the home, hundreds of thousands of dollars in valuables went up in flames.
Caretaker of the home, Mark Williams
The fire occurred at Lot 61 Princess Street, Georgetown, just after 15:00h.
When Guyana Times visited the home on Friday, the occupant of the upper flat of the building, Mark Williams, said the owners of the property reside overseas.
The man said the house is occupied by him and another person.
“I was at work at the time when I receive the message. My daughter who doesn’t live too far, said she saw there were movements, and when she look up the road she saw the fire, and she run down the road because she knows I live here.”
“She immediately gave me a call, at work, and I had to try and get off from the job to get here,” he said.
Williams added that by the time he arrived at the location, the fire was already put out by firefighters.
The upper flat of the house that was destroyed by fire
“The fire started from the fridge that was the only thing that was on. There was also a problem with the current at the said day whereby the lights were off almost all day… I leave just after 12 to run on the road because I had to go to work for three. I came in back just about two, and the lights were on, so I plugged back on the fridge, and I get out at 2:30.”
“From my daughter and other sources, the lights did come off again and came on back…that was when all these problems came. There are other people in this same street and area that had problems whereby they find their fridge was smoking, my neighbour said her microwave burn, another person fan burn…”, he explained.
As a result of the fire, he has suffered losses and is unaware whether the property was insured.
The house was recently constructed. Williams said he is currently waiting to hear from GPL to know the way forward. (G9)
