…Fire Chief says arson suspected, one person in custody

By Navendra Seoraj
Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara erupted in anguish and shock following a fire that claimed the lives of a family of three.

Residents of Sixth Street Cummings Lodge witnessed as the charred remains of the three family members were removed by undertakers, from a razed apartment complex, on Saturday. The Guyana Chronicle understands that 46-year-old, Martin Lewis; his 40-year-old wife, Beverly Miller and their 14-year-old son, Dawall Ifill, lost their lives after being trapped in the burning building.

Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle told this publication that the Guyana Fire Service responded to reports of a fire in Sixth Street Cummings, around 17:30hrs. “Units from Campbellville and Alberttown responded and they found that a massive fire was in progress in an apartment building…they immediately went into fire-fighting action, but subsequently learnt that three persons could not be accounted for,” said Gentle in an invited comment.

Reports indicate that the family was living in a heavily-grilled apartment on the lower flat of the apartment complex, which is located next to the Cummings Lodge Secondary School. The fire started in an apartment on the upper flat of the complex. Sections of the media reported that firefighters found the bodies hugging each other, but Gentle could not confirm this, at the time of the interview.

The source of the fire is still unknown, but Gentle said one person, who is a tenant of the apartment complex, is in police custody because there were allegations about threats being made by this person, against the landlord and his “representative.” “There were some allegations about threats because of non-payment of rent…so it was some kind of confrontation between the tenant and the person who supposed to be the landlord or representative of the landlord,” the fire chief explained. He confirmed that further investigations are ongoing, but as it is now, the issue is being treated as suspected arson. It was reported that close to 15 persons occupied the complex, and since the building was completely destroyed, all of them have been rendered homeless.

There have been a number of fires in the past few weeks, and persons are starting to say this is a new “epidemic,” while remaining equally cautious because of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Considering the upsurge in fires across the country, Gentle said persons need to be conscious of their surroundings and practice basic fire safety drills. “Some of the recent fires are basically carelessness and some involve people setting fire to buildings, but we do not want to cause an alarm…we have been having a fair share of fires since this year started,” Gentle lamented.

Just recently, a pensioner, Dhanhiram Harcharan, lost his home when a two-storey Kingston building went up in flames. And, four persons were left homeless after a fire, suspected to be electrical in origin, gutted their home at Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara, one week ago.

Early this month, a bodywork shop and at least one other building in Lusignan were completely destroyed by fire. In May, the former Morocco Hotel and another within the same compound at First Avenue at the town of Bartica were also destroyed by fire. Additionally, persons were left homeless after an early-morning fire ravaged their home at Lot B-2, Bent Street, Wortmanville, in April. As the numbers continue to climb, authorities will have to be watchful because the country recorded over 700 fires in 2019 alone.