Mahaicony pensioner homeless after fire razes home

A 67-year-old pensioner from Wash Clothes, Mahaicony, is now homeless after a fire of unknown origin destroyed her two-storey home on Wednesday.
At the time of the fire, Soorsatie Drapaul said she was spending time with relatives and learned of the blaze after receiving a telephone call from a young man who noticed the house on fire and contacted her. She had been away for about two weeks.

On Thursday, when Guyana Times visited the scene, she explained that she had been out of the area since around May 8 and only returned after being informed about the fire.
“I lost everything in my house, every single thing,” the distraught woman related.
She explained that by the time she arrived at the scene, firefighters were already there battling the blaze. “I saw the house was down… everything was down,” she recalled.
According to the pensioner, only a small section on the lower flat of the building was still burning when she arrived. She said officials from Guyana Power and Light Incorporated also visited the scene and disconnected electrical wires as emergency operations continued.
Drapaul noted that she does not know what may have caused the fire and said no one was able to immediately determine the origin of the blaze. “I can’t say what caused it… I don’t know what it was,” she said.
The woman estimates that she lost approximately $15 million. “Everything you could think of in the house,” she lamented.
Drapaul explained that the home carried generations of memories for her family. “I was born here, and I’ve lived here till now,” she said, adding that her parents also spent their lives there.
The destroyed structure reportedly contained two bedrooms on the upper flat and one on the lower flat. Now left uncertain about her future, Drapaul is appealing for public assistance to help her rebuild. “I need help… I need back a building and a house there,” she pleaded.
Persons wishing to assist can contact Soorsatie Drapaul at telephone number 655-9316.