5 homeless after early morning corentyne fire

A family of five is now homeless after an early morning fire destroyed their two-storey home at Number 67 Village, Corentyne, Berbice on Thursday. The blaze, which was reported at about two o’clock, destroyed the four-bedroom building occupied by 41-year-old Gitanjali Sukrah, her husband Sunil and their three children.

Sukrah said her husband had returned home around midnight and later rested on the veranda because of the heat. She believes what happened there moments later triggered the blaze.

“It was like, my husband come home about 12 o’clock, he didn’t get a few drink. And the place been too hot for him to sleep inside, so he having his own bed inside the veranda. And he lie down from the bed, and he smoke.

And when he smoke, he throw the cigarette end out. And when the cigarette breeze blow, he fly up on the seine where the side of the house. And I’ve been buying gas for carry over for a load boat.”

Sukrah said gasoline being stored at the property subsequently ignited, resulting in a series of explosions.

Next door, her father, Deonarine Subramani, was asleep when the explosions began.

“Like, 10 minutes after that, we hear something explode, like a gas. So, we tell the guy that, I don’t know if you heard that, but I’m going to tell you something. We hear a thing, every five minutes, a thing explode. So, now we start to smell the smoke in the house. So, the guy tells me something about it. Now, when we open the door and come out, there is fire, the house is on fire.”

With the neighbouring property also threatened, Subramani and others used water, including a pressure washer, in an effort to prevent the flames from spreading further.

She said calls were made for the fire service, but she claimed firefighters did not arrive before the house was destroyed. She said virtually everything the family owned was lost. “I don’t know What is next gonna happen? I don’t know. I’m penniless right now. No money, nothing.”

Sukrah, her husband and their three children, ages 12, 11 and nine, have been displaced by the fire. The circumstances surrounding the blaze have not been established as investigations continue.