Woman escapes burning Edinburgh home

By: Andrew Carmichael 

A 55-year-old woman was forced to flee her home at Lot 1 Edinburgh, East Bank Berbice, on Monday morning after waking to noise outside and discovering smoke pouring into the upper flat of the two-storey building.

Zalima Ally was alone upstairs when the fire broke out in the lower flat of the building, which was occupied by another woman who was away at the time.

Within minutes, what Ally initially thought might have been someone burning garbage nearby developed into a major fire, sending thick smoke through the building and leaving her with little time to escape.

The New Amsterdam Fire Service responded with two units and managed to contain the blaze to the building, preventing the flames from spreading to neighbouring houses.

Ally recalled that before becoming aware of the fire, she had detected a slight burning smell but did not initially consider it unusual.

“I did smell a little like a burn. It’s probably somebody throwing garbage or whatever, but I didn’t contact anything. I didn’t really realise I’m thinking that something happening downstairs,” she related.

She subsequently returned to bed, but sometime later began hearing people outside making noise. By the time she got up, smoke had already begun entering the upper flat.

Ally said her first reaction was to determine whether something inside her apartment was burning.

“I was in bed, right, and I started to hear the noise and these kind of things, you know, and I pushed away. But before I could have come out of the bed, I see smoke start coming,” she recalled.

She rushed to the kitchen but found nothing there that could account for the smoke. It was then that she realised the problem was downstairs.

With smoke rapidly filling the upper flat, Ally returned to the bedroom, hurriedly put on clothing and made her way out of the house.

By then, she said, flames had begun spreading heavily through the lower section of the building.

Outside, neighbours were already raising an alarm and attempting to assist.

For Ally, the situation unfolded so rapidly that there was little opportunity to think about saving anything from the four-bedroom upper flat she shared with the building’s owner, Affis Ali.

“Everything happened so fast, like, I really couldn’t grab anything,” she said.

The shock of what was happening soon overwhelmed her.

“I started to scream, I started to cry, I started to pick up, I tried to grab the phone to start making calls, but, like, I don’t know what happened,” she recalled.

As the fire intensified, those around her repeatedly urged her to get away from the building.

Ally nevertheless attempted to return upstairs for the keys to a vehicle that was parked near the burning house. Concerned that she could become trapped, neighbours prevented her from re-entering.

“So, I even tried to go run upstairs back for the car keys. But everybody prevented me from running backstairs, run upstairs back to get the car keys,” she said.

Unable to retrieve the keys, residents instead pulled the vehicle away from the burning building.

Residents also reportedly attempted to tackle the fire during its early stages but said their efforts to gain access to the lower flat were hampered by heavy metal grills fitted to the windows.

Photographs taken while the fire was in progress showed flames burning in the lower section of the building while thick black smoke billowed from the structure.

The New Amsterdam Fire Service subsequently arrived with two fire tenders and brought the blaze under control. Despite houses being situated close to the burning structure, firefighters were able to contain the fire to the one building.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.

Ally said she could not speculate about how it started, but maintained that the fire originated downstairs. She noted that there were videos showing the fire burning in the lower section of the building.

The lower flat was occupied by one woman, who was not at home when the fire started.

Ally said she had been living at the property for about four years, while Ali’s connection to the house stretches much further, with the property having come from his parents.

Although the upper flat was not where the fire reportedly originated, the heat, flames and smoke caused extensive damage to the building and its contents.

Ally described the four-bedroom upper flat as a well-furnished home and said clothing, documents, cash and numerous other possessions were among the losses.

But standing outside the damaged property after escaping, her thoughts were less about the possessions destroyed and more about Ali and how he would react to losing the family home.

“I don’t know how he’s going to take this. This is going to be a very, very shocking year for him,” she said.

She said the loss would be particularly difficult for Ali because of the history attached to the property.

“This is a very, very big loss for him. This is his home. From his parents. This is going to be so much for him,” Ally said.

She also expressed concern about his health and the emotional impact the fire could have on him.

Ali is expected to turn 50 next month.

For Ally, Monday’s fire was an experience unlike anything she had encountered before.

“I never experienced anything like this,” she said.

With their home extensively damaged and many of their belongings lost, Ally said she could not immediately say what would come next or where they would stay.

Persons wishing to make contact with Ally can do so on 592- 621-8408.