Several persons are now homeless after a fire of unknown origin destroyed a family property at Lot 328 Sachibazaar and Rohinital Streets, Prashad Nagar, Georgetown, on Friday.
Gertude Vieira
Owner of the property, 70-year-old Gertude Vieira had reportedly left to transact business in the city and upon her return, she learnt that her home was destroyed by fire.
“I knew for a fact that the fire could not have started from upstairs, it had to come from downstairs”, the woman said.
Vieira, who lives with her son in the upper flat of the house, explained that at the time of the fire, two children and an adult were at home. She noted that the lower flat of the building is being rented.
The gutted house
The elderly woman further stated that not only did she lose millions of dollars in household items, but she would also have lost cherished memories of her parents.
“I had a lot of antique things from my parents that I cherished. I had things that were about 100 years old from my great, great grandparents, that my parents passed down to me, everything is now gone”, she cried.
Vieira revealed that she has been living at the property since she was a child, and it was passed down to her as a gift from her parents.
“When my parents died, they left this house for me. This doesn’t make sense; everything is now gone.”
She also confirmed that the house was not insured.
Meanwhile, Divisional Officer in charge of operations in Georgetown, Dwayne Scotland told this newspaper that upon receiving the report of a fire, the Guyana Fire Service deployed three tenders to the scene. They would have received the report at about 14:30h.
“The fire looked as though it was accidental and it looks as though it started somewhere in the top floor, but that is not confirmed because we are still carrying out an investigation”, he explained. At that time, Scotland said they were unable to determine the origin of the fire that destroyed the dwelling house.
