By Fareeza Haniff

IT was a chaotic scene in the community of Meten-Meer-Zorg (MMZ), West Coast Demerara on Sunday when a two–storey house went up in flames, forcing families in nearby houses to flee for safety. The fire, which relatives told the Guyana Chronicle was electrical in nature, started approximately 14:00hrs in Second Street, MMZ and saw residents forming a bucket brigade before the Guyana Fire Service arrived.

This newspaper understands that at the time of the fire, the occupants of the house Mohammed Baseer, 76; his wife Bibi, 72; and their 14-year-old grandson were on the lower flat of the building.
One of their sons, Salim Baseer, who assisted firefighters in putting out the blaze, told the Guyana Chronicle that his father was in the hammock while his mother was washing a bed net, when residents alerted them of the fire.
Reports indicate that the fire started in the upper flat of the building. According to Salim, his other brother, Ashim Baseer rescued his mom who was shocked on noticing the flames.
“Dah the only thing she get fuh come out with, ah de netting,” Salim said. When asked what could have triggered the fire, he said, “They had a lil shortage of power.”
Salim praised the quick response of the Fire Service, which managed to contain the fire from spreading to nearby buildings and another house in the same yard.
However, firefighters ran out of water while the building was still in flames but later managed to secure more from a nearby outlet.
The upper flat of the house was completely destroyed while the fire was contained in the bottom half. The elderly woman and her husband were taken to a neighbour’s house, where they wept uncontrollably as firefighters attempted to save the house.
Scores of residents who gathered at the scene expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) company failed to disconnect electricity from the area while the fire was raging.