FIRE of unknown origin destroyed ND&S Furniture Establishment complex, at Lot 40 ‘BC’ Gap Road, La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara, on Wednesday night.
Sasha Mahadeo, the owner’s daughter, told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that they were alerted to the blaze by neighbours at about 23:00 h.
She said when she emerged from her bedroom she saw the back wall of their house and the furniture factory engulfed in flames.
Apart from the store and factory, a three-storey house was gutted, leaving only the exterior concrete walls standing.
Mahadeo said she does not believe that the flames started electrically, because the security guards double check the premises before changing shifts daily and employees are also trained to defuse any situation.
She is of the opinion that an incendiary device was thrown into one of the buildings, resulting in billions of dollars losses.
Mahadeo said they lost their house, the store and the factory but managed to save a few pieces of furniture.
She said the factory has been in operation for 15 years but the store only opened 11 years ago and employed about 60 people.
Mahadeo told reporters that, soon after they became aware of the conflagration, they got out of the house where she, her parents and grandfather resided and summoned the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), which responded about 45 minutes later without water.
“When residents attempted to help us, the firemen ordered them to go home,” she said, noting that the firefighters, at that time, were not acting as quickly as they should.
Mahadeo was critical of the firemen’s conduct and said when she and her sister tried to point them in the direction where the fire started; they were asked if they wanted to fight the fire instead.
Mahadeo said, too that she does not suspect any disgruntled person committed the arson because they had no grouse with anyone, including the employees who live as far away as Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo.