THE relatively quiet village of Cummings Lodge was sent into a state of panic on Friday evening when fire engulfed an apartment building leaving more than 40 students and other occupants homeless. The 30-room apartment building is said to be owned by Shanta Baldeo and is located at lot 46 Third Street, Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
The building was occupied by students of the University of Guyana (UG), Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), Rajiv Gandhi Medical School and non-student residents.
According to Ron Smith, an occupant of one of the apartments, he was at home relaxing when he heard cries of fire from another occupant .
“I heard some of the boys yelling fire! fire! about minutes to nine. They normally joke about stuff all the time, but I decided to go out and check and it was indeed a fire,” the distraught resident told the Guyana Chronicle while the building was still collapsing.
The blaze started in an apartment downstairs and is believed to be electrical in origin.
Smith recalled rushing to the pipe after grabbing his bucket, but water was coming too slowly for the occupants to extinguish the blaze.
He said attempts were also made to get sand to contain the blaze, but they could not locate any within the vicinity of that home.
According to the now homeless man, two fire tenders arrived after 21:00hrs, but they were prevented from extinguishing the fire due to the fact that the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) had not disconnected electricity.
“I think it was because of this, the building could not be saved. Because if the power was off, they [the fire service] could have contained the fire,” he told this publication.
Another onlooker related that the fire tenders were not operational and there were issues with them not having water.
When the Guyana Chronicle arrived on scene at 21:30 hrs, none of the tenders were working, despite the remains of the building still being ravaged by flames.
During this time, efforts were being made by residents and some students to contain the fire through the formation of bucket brigades with the supply of water from neighbours.
Smith, like many others, related that he was unable to save any of his personal belongings, including documents, and material assets including two fridges, a stove, a bed, a microwave, a guitar and a keyboard, among other things.
He said he was unable to save anything because he rushed out to help the others contain the fire with the hope that it would not consume the entire building.
“It is very difficult for me now because it is like I have to start back over in life. I lost all of my qualifications and documents and everything I’ve worked hard for. It is not being materialistic, but you set targets to achieve things in life to be comfortable and when you lose that in the wink of an eye, it is hard to comprehend,” an emotional Smith said.