Fridge, freezer, surround system destroyed as… Policeman’s Sophia home goes up in flames

FIRE struck late yesterday in the outskirts of Georgetown, rendering 33-year-old Mark Smith of Lot 190 ‘D’ Field, Sophia homeless and pondering his next move.

The police rank stationed at Force Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown told the Guyana Chronicle that he had left home on Friday night for work, and was returning home when a caller informed him that his home was on fire.
The man said he hurried home only to find there was nothing he could do to save his home.

He said he had shared the residence with his girlfriend, but she also was not at home when the fire started, because she resides at the home only when he is there.
The fire reportedly started after 16.00 hrs, and quickly devoured the 30’x 18’ wooden structure which had been fitted with all amenities in terms of household appliances, both electrical and otherwise. The lawman said he has lost the following items: two beds, one television set, one freezer, one fridge, one surround sound system, a microwave, a gas stove and other household electrical and electronic items. He said the only electrical item he had not had was a fan.
When this newspaper visited the fire scene yesterday, the man’s claim that the Guyana Power & Light (GPL) had not been supplying power to the home was confirmed. However, this publication did spot a phone wire connected to the GPL power pole situated in front of the man’s home, and traced it to the man’s home, since the point of connection could be seen where the wire was left dangling from the power pole by a piece of wood at the end, and many residents were heard commenting about the illegal connection to the lawman’s home.
There were, also, those who tried desperately to distract media attention from the wire, and some even attempted to stand in a line on the wire to conceal its visibility, but those efforts were thwarted by this reporter.
Asked about the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) response to the fire, residents said that two fire tenders responded in a timely manner, but the state of the road posed some challenge to them getting to the scene in a timely manner, which would have saved the home from destruction.

The firemen had also moved to save the other buildings from being seriously scorched or damaged by the heat and flames emanating from the building being destroyed.
The illegal power connection to the man’s home comes just one day after the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) had visited that very area to introduce its residents to a new form of metering, which would reportedly result in significant reduction in electricity theft.

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