A family is now gripped with the reality of losing a home and a close relative after a fire swept through a Diamond, East Bank Demerara home in the wee hours of Monday.
The fire, which reportedly started in the garage of the Lot 796 Third Avenue, Block X, Diamond, home resulted in the death of 59-year-old Thakur Singh. His charged remains were discovered about 06:00h on Monday by members of the Guyana Fire Service.
It is believed that the fire originated from an unattended kerosene stove that the man was using in the garage about 03:00h and quickly engulfed the five-bedroom wooden and concrete house.
When Guyana Times visited the area on Monday, Jetendra Singh, owner of the house, recalled that he woke up about 03:00h on Monday and as he opened his bedroom door, he was greeted by thick smoke, so he immediately alerted his wife to get the children out of the house. In an attempt to see if it was possible to extinguish the blaze, he ran into the lower flat of the house but the heat was too extreme.
He managed to exit the building, along with his son, while his wife and daughter went towards the back verandah. As he checked the garage, it was already engulfed in flames as well as the wooden flooring of the house and at that time, he knew that there was nothing he could do to save any household items.
“I went back for my wife and daughter…It had a black tank at the back, so I managed to climb on it and asked my daughter to jump and I catch her…I took her to a safe place and went back for my wife also.”
The house and minibus after the blaze
He confirmed that his uncle, who had been living with him for some time, was in the garage when he retired to bed. He could not say, however, if the man was under the influence of alcohol. “As a matter of fact, I didn’t even hear a scream from him during the blaze,” Singh recalled.
Meanwhile, while he could not estimate his losses, he noted that if the Guyana Fire Service had responded in a timely manner, his house could have been saved. He added that as soon as he realised that the house was on fire, he contacted the Fire Service but was told the firefighters were battling another fire at Kaneville.
“The firemen came here like one and a half hours after the fire started…if they de come in 10-15 minutes, most of the building could have been saved,” Singh related.
Apart from losing his house and his uncle, a minibus was also destroyed by the blaze.
Fire officials are continuing their investigations.
