Several homeless after fires ravage Foulis house, Louisa Row apartment building
The Foulis fire
A fire of unknown origin has completely gutted a house at 2nd Street, Foulis, East Coast Demerara on Thursday, February 24, 2023.
According to the Guyana Fire Service, a call was received on Thursday in respect to the fire at Lot 67 Second Street, Foulis, ECD, and water tenders from the Melanie and Mahaica Fire Stations were immediately dispatched to the location.
“The structure involved was a one-storey wooden building owned by 44-year-old Balram Singh, which he occupied with his family of three,” the Fire Service has said.
Firefighters at the Louisa Row scene of the Georgetown fire on Friday
Guyana Times was informed that when the fire started, Singh was at the Shine Taxi Service base, which is a stone’s throw from his home. He was informed of the fire, and the Fire Service was summoned to the scene, but by the time the fire was extinguished, the building and its contents were destroyed.
Two houses located on the eastern and western sides of the burnt building were also affected by the fire, and three vehicles belonging to 43-year-old Poramraj Singh, which were parked under his building, were destroyed by the fire.
The Fire Service has said that two jets working from Water Carrier #17, and subsequently two jets working from Light Pump #104 via an open water source, were used to extinguish this fire.
The Louisa Row fire
Another fire, which occurred at a two-storey, wooden-and-concrete apartment building at Louisa Row, Georgetown late on Friday afternoon, has also led to several persons being rendered homeless after that structure went up in flames.
One of the occupants of the upper flat of this four-apartment structure explained that he had raised concerns with the parents of several young men in the lower flat about them smoking ‘weed’.
The fire that destroyed the home at Foulis, ECD
He is of the belief that smoking might have led to the building’s devastation. This was corroborated by other occupants of the building.
Persons in the area have commended the Fire Service for its quick response and effective containment of the blaze. A resident who lives opposite the devastated house recalled seeing thick black smoke emanating from the lower flat of the house, followed by flames.
The Fire Prevention Department is currently investigating both fires.
