Fire- fighters comb the debris at what was left of sephenson’s cottage, looking for clues yesterday.

The blaze also left extensive damage to a two-flat concrete residential building and resulted in six more persons being dislodged and counting their losses.

The loss, estimated to run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, was caused by the flames and water used to douse them.

The affected six include 65-year-old Gordon Harris and his nephew, Dexter De Florimonte, a United States (U.S.) resident, who occupied the top and De Florimonte’s sister, Sharon Bentick, her husband, their 19-year-old son and her four-month-old baby.

Sean Stephenson (in foreground) wails on seeing his home being consumed by fire

Neighbours first saw fire in the cottage and quickly made a telephone call but the conflagration spread and practically consumed that building before the arrival of a GFS unit.

As firemen worked to extinguish the fire, Stephenson and the De Florimonte on the top floor of the other building became embroiled in a heated argument which almost turned violent, over allegations that it may have been triggered by negligence of the former.

An outraged, De Florimonte, pointing to the massive destruction at his residence, swore that it was of Stephenson’s making as he may have been cooking and an unattended stove flared.

Neighbours who went to render assistance said the stove and a pot of rice were in the centre of the house when they arrived and Stephenson appeared to partially dazed when questioned by GFS officials.

Stephenson told reporters he had been living in the house, owned by his grandmother, for several years but had migrated to Suriname and spent four years before returning recently after his grandmother was forcibly removed from her home.

Mr. Gordon Harris and relatives in shock outside their home yesterday (Photos by Carl Croker)

Bentick said she was busy with domestic chores when her uncle shouted the alarm, about fire next door, from upstairs.

She said they hurried out of their home and sought help to get a few belongings outside but the fire was too quick and it gutted the top flat and burnt other property.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Guyana Relief Council, Shelter Administrator Donald Mentis and Welfare Officer Rohini Bonar, who were in the neighbourhood at the time, visited and sympathised with the affected and immediately began making arrangements for them to be given relief. Stephenson was taken to Brickdam Police Station to assist with the