A fire, suspected to be of electrical origin, early Monday night gutted a luxury apartment building at D’Aguiar Park, East Bank Demerara.
Reports are that the fire started some time around 18:45h when one of the tenants noticed thick smoke coming from her ceiling and raised an alarm.
Firefighters conducting their investigations following the extinguishing of the blaze
The Barrington Apartment Building contained five units and according to one of the tenants, Managing Director of the GTM Group of Insurance Companies, Roger Yee, the fire started in his neighbour’s apartment.
“My neighbour from next door banged on my door to tell me there is a fire in her room, but there was nothing I could do… I went up to see if it was possible to save, but it was too late at that time. Smoke was too thick, so I asked if anybody called the fire tender, but nobody seems to have a clue,” he said.
The Fire Service was called and got there within 10 minutes, and was able to contain the blaze to just one building.
Meanwhile, another resident said that she was in her bathroom when she heard someone yelling fire and she quickly evacuated her building.
The building’s owner, Nanus Hussein, related that he got a call informing him of the fire, but was unable to divulge any other information since he was not informed of the possible cause. He did state that the units were rented to foreign nationals.
At the scene, the firefighters worked swiftly to contain the blaze in spite of facing their regular water shortage issues. They were able to access water from the complex’s swimming pool, which aided them tremendously in extinguishing the fire.
Tenant Roger Yee speaking to friends
Preliminary reports indicate that there was a fluctuation of power in the area which may have led to the fire. Four of the five units were occupied at the time of the incident while one was vacant. Three of the five units were significantly damaged.
