Firefighters save building from destruction by channa bomb
QUICK action by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), early yesterday morning, saved a building which is home to a family of four and three businesses, from being destroyed after a channa bomb (Molotov cocktail) was hurled at it. Chief Fire Officer Marlon Gentle told the Guyana Chronicle that three tenders responded to the call about 02:30 hrs and extinguished the blaze.
He said the explosive was thrown by person or persons unknown, targeting the bottom flat of the edifice, located at Lot 48 Sheriff Street, Campbellville, Georgetown, while the occupants were asleep.
Gentle said tenders from Central, Campbellville and Alberttown fire stations, all in the city, rushed to the scene and put out the flames which slightly scorched the structure.
On the premises are  stationery, variety and clothing stores on the lower flat and, in the top flat, reside Yoganand Goberdhan, his wife and two children.
Gentle commended his ranks on their good work that averted a disaster.
Meanwhile, the Fire Chief also reported on the conflagration, at Lot 94 Little Diamond, East Bank Demerara, in which Cynthia Persaud, 82, perished after she left a lit kerosene lamp by a window and fell asleep on Monday night.
He said wind caused the lamp to fall and set afire the entire house.
The woman was trapped inside despite the desperate rescue attempt by neighbours.
Police said the tragedy occurred about 19:30 hrs and the charred remains of the woman, who lived alone, were found in the bedroom after the GFS and other residents in the neighbourhood put out the embers.
The Fire Chief also revealed that the man who set his house ablaze at Parika, East Bank Essequibo, on Monday, too, is in police custody.
Investigators said the alleged arsonist was in a fit of rage after a domestic dispute with his wife, in which he accused her of being unfaithful.
The destruction of the house, at Lot 69 Parika River Dam, has left homeless, as well, the woman and their eight children.