Two fires of unknown origin have destroyed a used car storage bond at Good Hope village on the East Coast of Demerara and a B Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown house.
Reports are that about 14:00h on Monday, the fire started at the used car storage bond at Good Hope, leaving a trail of destruction.
The blaze engulfed the facility and surrounding buildings, causing extensive damage to the inventory of vehicles stored within.
The Sophia house on fire on Monday evening
Firefighters battled tirelessly to contain the inferno, but the flames posed a formidable challenge, leaving authorities puzzled about the cause of the fire.
Meanwhile, the son of the facility’s owner, Roshan Ali, told this publication that the facility was rented out to Chinese migrants, who operate a hardware store, and the back where the fire occurred was utilised as storage bond for old or used vehicles.
Meanwhile, just after 18:00h also on Monday, a fire of unknown origin started at a house in Sophia.
Firefighters battling with the fire through smoke
Reports are that the owner of the property resides overseas but the lower flat of the building was occupied by a 64-year-old man and his 49-year-old wife.
While no one was in the upper flat of the building, the elderly man that was in the lower flat said he heard neighbours shouting for him to exit the building, and it was then that he realised that the building was on fire.
The hardware store at the front of the compound
The Guyana Fire Service has since launched an investigation.
The storage compound for used cars
The Fire Service is noting a spike in fires across the country after responding to several incidents over the past week, with five of them occurring on Saturday.
Monday’s fires have brought the figure to 14 fires for the year already, which has resulted in the death of two persons and over 20 persons homeless.
