An early morning fire on Wednesday at Scottsburg Corriverton, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) has left one person dead and five others homeless.
Dead is 85-year-old Stanley Brown of Scottsburg, Corriverton.
Stanley Brown and his granddaughter Faydeha King (Miss Earth Guyana 2019) in happier times
Brown, an amputee, was trapped in the upper flat of a two-storey house while his wife, 77-year-old Maurvette Brown, had to jump through a window from the upper flat to escape the flames. The couple’s daughter, Carol Melville, along with her husband and two children – ages 11 and 18 — are also now homeless.
The Browns lived on the upper flat while the Melvilles lived on the lower flat of the house.
The couple had been married for 56 years.
Initial investigation revealed that the fire started in Stanley Brown’s bedroom then spread to his wife’s room.
Maurvette told Guyana Times that she heard her husband calling her but she could not get into his room because it was padlocked.
Stanley was attacked by bandits several years ago and since then, he kept several padlocks on both the front and back doors of the upper flat. He also kept his room padlocked when he went to bed. All of the windows were also barred, except one which was in Maurvette’s bedroom.
The burnt two-storey building
Maurvette said that after she was alerted about the fire, she could not get to her husband’s bedroom through the door.
She said that she begged him to get her the keys but he could not find them at the time. The pensioner explained that she had to break through the wall separating the two rooms in order to get to her husband, who was in danger. She said that by the time she got into the room it was filled with thick smoke.
“I throw the water but it couldn’t do anything,” she explained.
According to the visibly shaken woman, she was then forced to start taking evasive actions.
In an attempt to get Stanley away from the flames, she took him into her room; however, because of the flames, she had to jump to safety but her husband was unable to do the same. His remains were later found in the building.
“The heat was too much,” the elderly woman recalled. Having jumped 14 feet to safety, she was taken to the Skeldon Hospital, where she was treated.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Tyreese Smith said he heard his grandfather calling his grandmother and attempted to make his way upstairs but the doors were locked.
The teen said that his mother had left a few moments before for a trip to Georgetown while his father had gone to work.
“After my mother left, I was on my phone playing because I couldn’t go back to sleep, and then I hear my grandfather calling for my grandmother, ‘Maurvette,’ so, I want to know why he calling for her so early and that I hear my grandmother shouting and I get up and run upstairs and asked them what going on and I try to open the door,” the teen said.
He recalled hearing his grandmother shouting for the keys.
“So, I run downstairs and go to the back door and then I see the fire coming through the window. I start kicking the door but I could not get it open,” the teen said.
He said two neighbours rushed to their assistance, but they too were unsuccessful in getting the door open.
“Because the door get so much of locks it not opening and by the time other people come the house was already in a big flame so nobody could not do anything,” he revealed.
Meanwhile, as the fire spread throughout the building, neighbours formed a bucket brigade and began socking another house nearby.
A unit from the Corriverton Fire Station arrived about 15 minutes after the fire started.
It is believed that a lighted candle caused the fire. Reports are at the time of the blaze there was a power outage in the area and Stanley may have lit a candle.
Brown was a boiler operator at the Skeldon Sugar Estate.
His body is currently at Bailey’s Funeral Home of Number 4 Village, West Coast Berbice awaiting a post-mortem examination.
Persons who may wish to get in contact with the family can contact them on telephone number (592) 673-5597.
