Single mother, 7 children homeless after suspected arson

A Glasgow Village, East Bank Berbice family is now homeless after a fire destroyed their two-storey home earlier today.

The blaze, which is suspected to have been deliberately set, has left a single mother and her seven children struggling to recover from yet another devastating loss.

The fire, which occurred around 10:00, gutted the wooden and concrete structure, leaving the lower flat completely destroyed and the upper floor severely damaged.

Two fire tenders from New Amsterdam responded after the alarm was raised, but by the time firefighters arrived, the building was already engulfed in flames.

For the homeowner, Trisha Williams, the ordeal began with a phone call while she was at work.

“I wasn’t at home. I leave to go to work and as I reach the work and I put on my bag, I get a phone call and it’s a teacher from my daughter’s school. She called and she said is ‘Miss Wynn’s mother, Shani’s mommy?’ I said ‘yes’. She said ‘I see some burning going on over there and I guess it’s your house.’ So, I cut off the call and I get the next call right after that, a friend called me and then she told me to come quick that my house is on fire.”

Firefighters managed to contain the blaze, preventing it from spreading further, but the damage was extensive, leaving the family with nothing.

The 45-year-old woman has lived at the location for more than 25 years and says she has worked tirelessly to provide for her children.

“It is not an easy task. It’s not an easy task because from ever since I know myself being a woman of my own, I try my best with the children going to school. I do whatever a mother would do to make the children comfortable… All seven… living here including me is eight.”

Authorities have since indicated that the fire is believed to have been maliciously set.

The family is now displaced and staying elsewhere, as the mother tries to come to terms with the loss and determine her next steps.

“Living at somebody else’s place I really can’t cope… so I would try, whatever assistance I get, I would be grateful for it… just in order to get myself together,” the single mother said.

This is not the first time the family has faced such hardship, having previously rebuilt after an earlier fire some 20 years ago.

Now, once again, they are left to start over.