A woman and her four-year-old grandson are now homeless after their Plaisance, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home was destroyed by fire early Wednesday night.
The blaze started about 18:45h at the Lot 38 Graham Street, Plaisance residence. The small wooden house was occupied by Florence Alexander, a security guard, and her toddler grandson.
Alexander related that the child was asleep in the room and she was out in yard washing clothes when she noticed the flames in the house.
“I see a red thing like a ball in the kitchen and I run in but by the time I reach in, the fire done start spread all over,” she recalled.
The distraught woman added that she rushed in the house and woke her grandson. She noted that while she managed to get both the child and herself out the burning building to safety, she was unable to save anything from the house.
“I run in and shout ‘fire, fire’, calling for him. When he wake up and see the smoke, he was going to run back in the room but I tell him to run outside because the fire was spreading fast fast and nasty,” the woman related.
By the time the two occupants got out the burning building, neighbours became aware of what was happening and summoned the fire service.
Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters went into action and managed to put out the blaze. However, by that time, the 47-year-old woman said everything was already gone.
In tears, Alexander further told this newspaper that this is the third time a house was destroyed by fire at that residence – the first being in 2005 and then again in 2011.
According to the grieving woman, the 2005 fire claimed the life of her two-year-old nephew, who was burnt to death in the house.
