…two-yr-old rescued from the blaze
THE screams of a two-year old baby boy, trapped in a burning house at Meadowbrook Gardens yesterday afternoon, alerted neighbours who rushed into the building and rescued him.
Meanwhile, two adults on the lower floor of the burning building were said to have been in a deep slumber.

The fire, which quickly raged out of control, gutted the two-storey building at 135 Meadowbrook Gardens, leaving at least nine persons homeless (including four children) and millions of dollars in losses. Nothing, except three gas stoves and a refrigerator, was saved.

The building was occupied by two families – the Burnettes and the Hendersens–and was a family property. Neighbours said the fire broke out around 13:30hrs, on the top floor of the building.  Ms. Darlene Burnett, one of the persons sleeping on the lower flat when the fire started, wept bitterly and was too emotional to speak with reporters. For some reason, the front door to Darlene’s home was ajar, so that neighbours were able to get into the building and save those inside.

The man who saved the two-year-old does not wish to be identified, but is an employee working at a mechanic shop across the road from the building. The mechanics said they tried desperately to help save household items, but were driven back by the intense heat. 

Marvelling at the rate at which the destruction happened, the men remarked, “We never see a building burn so fast, yet.”  
Meanwhile, grief stricken Rochelle Abrams-Burnett, who occupied the front room on the top floor, with her children, said she was at Stabroek Market when her 14-year old son, a student of East Ruimveldt Secondary School, phoned to inform her that their home was on fire. Someone had contacted him at school with the news. She raced home, only to find the building well alight, Rochelle said.

Almost hysterical, Rochelle lamented that she lost everything, including her documents for a plot of land she had bought at Parfait Harmonie, West bank Demerara, just recently. It was only a stroke of luck that her children’s passports were not in the house at the time, she said.

Residents commended the prompt response and efficient work of the fire-fighters and observed that there were no hydrants in the scheme.
They were forced to break a water main opposite the burning house to fight the fire. Fortunately there was a gushing flow of water coming through the lines at the time.