Several families were left homeless following two devasting Christmas Day fires at Company Road, Friendship, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and Rose Street, West Ruimveldt, Georgetown.
In the first instance, the Guyana Fire Service reported that about 21:30h, it received a report of a fire at Lot 45 Company Road, Friendship, ECD and as such, water tenders from the Melanie and Campbellville Fire Stations responded.
Upon arriving at the scene, the firemen observed a two-storey wooden and concrete building engulfed in flames. The top floor of the building was occupied by Estwick and Edorl Leitch, while the ground floor was occupied by Carlton Leitch and Odette Cummings.
The aftermath of the Company Road fire
Despite quick action by the firemen, the house was completely ravaged. Fire officials related that the purported cause of the fire is said to be an overloaded electrical circuit that fed back into the distribution panel which sparked and ignited.
In addition, one silver grey Honda motor car bearing registration number PMM 8427 owned by Carlton Leitch was destroyed while a red and black Honda CG150 motorcycle, CE 4927 owned by Lincoln Leitch, was damaged.
Meanwhile, the Fire Service stated that about 8:50h, on Saturday, water tenders from Central and West Ruimveldt Fire Stations responded to a report that a house was on fire at Lot 169 Rose Street, West Ruimveldt.
Upon arrival, the firefighters saw one flat wooden and concrete building owned and occupied by Jewel Anderson and her family of three was on fire. Again, by the time the fire tenders arrived at the scene, the house was almost gutted.
The cause of the fire was given as a lit mosquito coil that was left unattended. The occupants of both homes were left to make alternative living arrangements.
