Pensioner severely burnt as fire guts Cummings Lodge home

Six persons are now homeless after a fire suspected to be electrical in nature gutted a South Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown home on Friday morning.
Reports are at about 02:43h, the Fire Service received a call and was alerted to a fire at Lot 873 South Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown.
According to the Guyana Fire Service, water tenders from the Campbellville, Alberttown, and Central Fire Stations responded to the scene, where it was observed that a two-storey wooden and concrete house was engulfed in smoke and flames.
The building was owned by 75-year-old Lynette Gray and was occupied by herself and five others.
As a result of the fire, the building and its contents were destroyed.
Gray was also injured during the ordeal and received severe burns about the body.
According to the GFS, the suspected cause of the fire is an electrical fan that overheated and ignited nearby combustible materials.
The Guyana Fire Service had said that it is noting the prevalence of electrical fires and admonished citizens to exercise caution and equip their homes with the necessary fire suppression tools (extinguishers, smoke detectors).
According to the GFS, some of the main contributing factors to electrical fires include illegal connections; overloading of circuits; slack connections; malfunctioning of electrical appliances and inferior drop cords or circuit strips.
“Electrical fires are especially dangerous because they can happen at any time if enough care and attention are not exercised towards electrical outlets and appliances,” the GFS said on Friday evening.