POLICE and Fire Service officials are still investigating a blaze that gutted a Lot 103 Deobrian Street, Prashad Nagar home earlier this week.

The March 10, early morning flames displaced a mining camp manager, his wife and two children, who lived in the house owned by Robert Powers.
The man, the woman and a son were the occupants of the building at the time, while another relative was staying with them.
Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle, on Monday, just before sending some of the belongings they saved elsewhere, Powers explained that he was in the lower flat of the premises making breakfast.
He said his wife made what sounded like a distress call to him, and when he rushed upstairs, he noticed that the place was ablaze.
Powers said the fire had spread so quickly that they had to vacate immediately and were only able to save some of the items in the building.
He said, after he was called upstairs, he saw smoke issuing from the ceiling in the backroom but the one in which the conflagration started was vacant.

Completely destroyed

The inferno completely destroyed the residence and caused some damage to two neighbouring houses. On one of them, the PVC-made roof gutters were damaged and several windows cracked or shattered while a door became strained.
Powers has been the owner of the property for the past 16 years since purchasing it in 1998.
He said he is, usually, not there because of his commitment to his job in the interior of Guyana but, while it is unfortunate, he is happy that it happened when he is around.
About the extent of the loss and the likely worth, Powers could not say and refrained from disclosing if the building was insured.
“It’s unfortunate that it happened but I am happy it did when it did, because I know that my wife wouldn’t be able to manage such a situation. So thank God that I was there,” he reflected.
Meanwhile, a next door neighbour, Jacqueline Joseph told this newspaper that she had been in her kitchen when she left to go and take a bath but, shortly after, was disturbed by the smell of smoke and shattering glass.
She said she had, earlier, given her son his lunch to take to work and he used the side entrance of their yard to leave but there was no sign of smoke or fire when he left.
The woman said she rushed to her back door after realising that something was wrong and she called the Fire Service.
By Asif Hakim