A FIRE on Sachibazar Street in suburban Prashad Nagar has left seven persons homeless, including the 70-plus-year-old landlady, Gertrude Vieira and her son.

According to eyewitnesses, the fire started sometime around 16:00hrs. Vieira told the media that the building housed her son on the top flat, and two families in the two apartments on the ground floor. She said that she suspects that the fire may have started in the room of one of the families on the bottom flat.

A visibly upset Vieira related that she was not home at the time, and only knew about the fire when she got into the street and saw the fire tenders and the house all ablaze. She stated that she was unable to save the majority of items in her home, due to the intense heat. Reports were that at the time of the fire, there were two young children in the house, but thankfully, they were subsequently rushed to the hospital and appeared to have been unharmed.

Although the building was badly burnt, one of the tenants could have been seen removing some of his clothes and other items that had been saved from the fire but had been drenched in water. Divisional Commander of operations in Georgetown, Dwayne Scottland told the media that the Guyana Fire Service received a call around 14:26, and immediately responded with three tenders, one each from Central, Campbellville and Alberttown.

“On arrival, we saw that the building was engulfed in flames. The firefighters set the vehicles and started operations; as a result, we were able to contain the fire to one building,” Scotland said, adding: “From initial investigations, it looks as if it was accidental, and started somewhere on the top floor, but that is not confirmed as yet. We are still carrying out investigations.”

Deputy City Mayor Alfred Mentore, who lives in the area, said that he is working to assess the situation and see where he, along with the City Council can offer help to those families affected by the tragedy.