FIRE of as yet undetermined origin gutted a two-storey wooden structure at Covent Garden New Settler Scheme, East Bank Demerara at about 00:40 hrs yesterday. According to a source, there was no electricity in the house, and the fire apparently started downstairs, because the caretaker, Somal Persaud, who was upstairs sleeping, was awoken by intense heat coming from downstairs, forcing the incredulous man to escape to safety through the back door.

He then raised an alarm, and neighbours desperately tried to put out the blaze and prevent the fire from spreading to other edifices. Thankfully, a heavy downpour of rain at about 01:25hrs helped to control the raging fire.

Guyana Fire Service personnel arrived at about 01:30hrs, but had great difficulty accessing the scene of the fire, because of the narrowness of the road and the bridges in the area.

Nevertheless, the fire was completely extinguished by 02:45hrs, leaving the houses to the left and right of the gutted building considerably damaged. It is known that the guttering, windows and air conditioning unit at Lot 9 were destroyed, and a crack has been left on the wall.
      

Double whammy

Somal Persaud buried his deceased mother in September 2012, and is now facing another tragedy. After the funeral, his relatives returned to Suriname, but his nephews, who inherited the property from their grandmother, permitted him to stay on as caretaker. The fire destroyed everything, and Somal Persaud is now homeless.

One of his nephews, Amar, confirmed by telephone that the house had indeed been given to him and his brother by their grandmother before she died; but that they’d allowed their uncle, Somal, to reside in it because he had nowhere else to go.

He concurred too that they were unable to save anything in the house, and that his uncle has now been rendered homeless.

The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) emergency unit disconnected the electricity within the area at the time of the fire, but restored power to the neighbourhood at around 03:00hrs.