House, furniture workshop gutted by fire

A family of four have been rendered homeless after their Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara home was completely gutted by fire, which also destroyed a furniture workshop.
On Sunday evening at about 21:43h, ranks from the Leonora Fire Station responded to a fire at Seaview, Anna Catherina, WCD.
The response team found that a flat wooden and concrete building – owned by 38-year-old Ravindra Balkissoon – was engulfed in flames and completely destroyed. The man resided on the said property with three other family members.

Debris after the fire was extinguished at Anna Catherina

The flames then spread to another one-flat building located in the same yard, where Ravindra Balkissoon operated a furniture workshop. That building and its contents were destroyed due to radiated heat from the fire.
Another building affected by the blaze was a two-storey wooden and concrete building located at Lot 67 Seaview, Anna Catherina, which is situated on the southern side of the building of origin. The building is owned by 47-year-old Mark Jelto, who along with his family of three occupy the top floor while the ground floor is a liquor restaurant.
Due to radiated heat, nine meters of PVC guttering, nine meters of facing board and two small windows were severely damaged.
Additionally, a one-flat wooden and concrete building situated on the western side of the building of origin received damage to nine meters of PVC guttering, nine meters of facing board and thirteen louvre panes. The building is owned by 56-year-old Sherina Mohamed and occupied is by herself and her family of two.
Firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze using one jet from an open water source and another working from a tank. The purported cause of the fire is a breakdown in the electrical circuit resulting in sparking, which ignited nearby combustible materials. (G12)