DESPITE the heroic efforts of his neighbours to save him, an elderly man died after a fire of unknown origin ripped through his house at Kildonan Village, early Monday morning.

Dead is 82-year-old Rudolph Ross called “Uncle Bruce”; his charred remains were found lying by a window on the eastern side of the two storey wooden and concrete structure. The fire reportedly started at 03:00hrs in the kitchen, located in the upper flat of the house.

Ross resided with his son Colin Ross, who was not at home at the time of the fire. However, the younger Ross arrived five hours after and reportedly gave conflicting stories of where he was at the time of the fire.

He has since been taken into police custody to assist with investigations. A police source told this newspaper that based on information received, the father and son had an argument on Sunday afternoon and he [Ross] left the house with his belongings.

According to Commander of ‘B’ Division, Ian Amsterdam, investigators have to verify the son’s alibi as an investigation has been launched to determine whether the fire was an act of arson.

I TRIED MY BEST TO SAVE HIM
A neighbour, Brian Jackson, 41, told Guyana Chronicle that he was awoken by loud cries for help from the elderly man. Jackson said he immediately summoned help and a bucket brigade was formed in an effort to save the elderly man. Ross was trapped due to grill work, the thick smoke and intense heat.

Brian explained that while the bucket brigade was trying to douse the inferno, he and another neighbour tried to get the senior citizen out but had to retreat after the heat became too much.

“About 3’0 clock this morning I hear someone shouting for help. I hear ‘Brian Help! Brian help!’ and I got up and see the fire coming from the back of Cousin Rudolph house. I hurry get out and start to holler for help in the street then the other neighbours came out. We tried our best to get him out of the building, we tried; we break the window where he was calling from but the grill wasn’t opening, and I was going up to ladder, the fire came closer to him and I heard he stopped calling out. Then the fire spread bigger and we had to hold back,” Jackson told this newspaper.

He recalled that earlier they tried breaking down the grilled doors but the intense heat forced them to a window on the eastern side of the house where they used a ladder to try and get Ross through the window but the heat intensified and they had to retreat. It is believed that at this point, Ross took his last breath. The roof collapsed immediately after and the fire intensified even more.

As the fire spread, Jackson’s house was scorched. According to the distraught man, he only saw Ross on Sunday when he [Ross] called him to assist in planting a tree; Jackson said Ross was in “good spirits.”

“A while now he was asking me to help him plant a cherry tree, so he call me yesterday [Sunday] and say you must come to plant it… so I went over and we plant it and the last thing he said to me was as long as he live he will take care of the tree. I know I try my best to save him but my best wasn’t enough …my best wasn’t enough at all. I couldn’t save Cousin Rudolph”, an emotional Jackson recalled.

Another of Ross’ son, David Cort, 29, described his father as a disciplinarian, who always encouraged others to thrive especially in academia and personally.
“He believed in independence he used to say once you are independent you can make it in this life. He was a very social individual, friendly, one who would have touched many lives. Even after he closed his career as an Overseer, he did not cease to continue to share his knowledge and to lend his expertise to those who are in need.

Meanwhile, Ivor Emerson Isaacs Ross, 84, who is the elder brother of the now dead man and lives close by; he said he too was awoken by loud noises and noticed a ball of flame, but did not know it was his brother’s house on fire.

The elder Ross said his brother visited him on Sunday to celebrate his [Ivor] 84th Birthday and they talked and shared a meal together before he left.

Meanwhile, neighbours lamented the late arrival of the fire service. They said efforts were made to contact the fire service but calls to the Berbice Fire Station went unanswered.
“We tried all the numbers up here, then we end up calling Georgetown, then they got on to them and when they come is like an hour and half after …they have to do better than that man.”

Ross, a father of seven, was described as an avid church member and a respectable individual in the community. He once served as the Overseer of the Bush Lot/Adventure Neighbourhood Democratic Council and was a member of the Concerned Citizens Development Group.

Many said that “Uncle Bruce” would be dearly missed since he was very knowledgeable in the allocation of lands and their boundaries within the #28 Bushlot/Adventure NDC and would usually offer assistance to residents.