“I just grab my child and run” – mother recalls

…as 2 Region 5 fires leave families counting heavy losses

Bibi Yahab was taking a shower when her two-year-old child knocked on the bathroom door, calling, “Mommy… Mommy.”
Thinking nothing was wrong, the 20-year-old mother told the child she would be out in a moment and continued showering.
Moments later, the child returned to the bathroom door shouting again.
“The neighbours start hollering for me. I couldn’t do anything. I just grab my child and run,” Yahab recalled.

By the time she reached downstairs with her child, flames had already engulfed the upper flat of the two-storey house at Lot 127 Bath Plantation Road, Hope, West Coast Berbice, where she lived with her husband, Dhanraj Arnold.
She said nearby workers and neighbours tried desperately to help, but within moments the fire had spread quickly.
The blaze gutted the family’s living quarters, destroying two refrigerators, a microwave, a blender, a television, a fan, cellular phones, clothing, furniture, and virtually every possession the young family had accumulated.
However, Yahab, her husband and their child were not the only victims.
The two-storey building housed two generations of one family.
While Yahab lived upstairs with Arnold and their toddler, Arnold’s parents occupied the lower flat of the house.

Within minutes, the five relatives were left homeless.
According to Divisional Fire Officer Clive McDonald, firefighters received the report at about 10:10h and responded immediately.
The Guyana Fire Service’s preliminary investigation has indicated that the fire started after something ignited combustible materials, causing flames to spread rapidly throughout the building.
For Arnold, the devastating news came while he was at work.
The young father, who is the family’s sole breadwinner, rushed home after receiving a telephone call informing him that his house was on fire.
“By the time I reach home, everything was gone. My wife and my child were safe, and I thank God for that, but everything else was gone.”
“I went to work, I worked, I saved money. That’s how we get everything. Now everything is destroyed.”
Arnold explained that since starting his family, he had taken whatever work he could find to provide for them.
“I alone working. I does do construction, make hollow blocks and drive truck. That’s how I build up everything we had.”
Among the items destroyed were refrigerators, beds, a television, a washing machine and the tools he depended on to earn a living, including drills, grinders, and saws.
“When we come and see everything lost, I start trembling. I can’t explain it. I just thank God my wife and my child come out safe.”
Although grateful his family survived, he admitted he has no idea where they will now live.
“I don’t know where we going to stay. We got to look somewhere. Maybe we get some help somewhere. If anybody could assist us, we would really appreciate it.”
Arnold’s 56-year-old mother, Jasoda, had owned the house for about 20 years.
She, too, was at work when she received the call informing her of the devastating news.
“I’ve been living here for about 20 years. I was at work when they call and tell me the house was on fire. By the time I come back, it was already gone.”
The lower flat contained refrigerators, a freezer, a washing machine, gas stove, furniture, clothing and numerous other household possessions accumulated over two decades.
Before leaving her security job about three months ago, she had also worked as a domestic worker and, more recently, looked after sheep and cattle in the backlands.
“Whatever little assistance people could give us, we willing to accept. We have to move on. We will stay here and continue working.”
Another fire
As the Hope family struggled to come to terms with the devastating loss of the home they had spent years building, another family at Blairmont, West Bank Berbice, was also facing heartbreak after a separate fire damaged their home.
The Blairmont fire affected another two-storey residence, leaving family members counting heavy losses as sections of the building and household contents were damaged.
Smoke-blackened walls, fire-damaged rooms and ruined household appliances bore testimony to the intensity of the blaze, while relatives began the difficult task of cleaning up and trying to salvage whatever could be saved.
McDonald said the Blairmont fire had already been extinguished before firefighters arrived.
He said preliminary investigations indicate that heat generated during cooking was transferred to nearby combustible materials, resulting in the fire.
Although the circumstances surrounding the two incidents were different, both families were left facing the same reality, replacing homes, furniture, appliances and years of hard-earned possessions.
Persons wishing to reach out to the Plantation Road family can do so on telephone number 684-6419.