At least six persons are now homeless following a fire at Number 65 Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), on Friday afternoon.
The fire completely destroyed the home of Leonard Sandy. The carpenter occupied the upper flat of the two-storey building with his wife, a Government part-time worker, and their three children aged two, five and eight.
The lower flat was occupied by Saif Latiff, a bicycle repair tradesman.
At the time of the blaze, no one was at home.
According to Sandy, he left home at about 15:30h for a funeral in the village and his wife left with the three children shortly after him.
Latiff, who plies his trade from a location a street away, was reportedly at the same funeral.
It was while at the funeral villagers noticed that a house was on fire. As villagers rushed to the scene, including Sandy, it became evident which house was on fire.
“We couldn’t save anything,” Sandy told this publication.
Villagers formed a bucket brigade but their efforts proved futile as the building was already engulfed.
The fire spread to a nearby building and the local firefighters turned their attention there.
A section of the wall was pulled down to prevent further spread.
The firefighters arrived and were able to put out the fire from the second building.
Water from a nearby canal was used to control the fire which was eventually extinguished but the entire building was destroyed.
Workers from Guyana Water Inc arrived on the scene during the initial stages of firefighting and made available blue flexible pipelines which were connected to pipelines in the community to make water available at the fire scene for the bucket brigade.
The Skeldon Fire Station which responded is 15 villages away.
Sandy said he was the caretaker of the building.
The Guyana Fire Service has since reported today that “The fire was the result of faulty electrical wiring in the building, which resulted in arcing and sparking, subsequently igniting nearby combustibles.”
Persons who may want to offer assistance to the family can contact them on telephone number (592) 626-0533 (G4)
