THREE Barrington Apartments at Houston, East Bank Demerara (EBD), were gutted last evening by fire shortly after 19:00hrs.

According to one of the affected tenants, Roger (only name given), the fire originated at Apartment Seven, which is located on one of three apartment blocks in the compound.
“My neighbours from Apartment Seven came banging on my apartment door to tell me there was a fire,” Roger said, adding that after he went downstairs and attempted to open up the apartment, “it was practically too late”.

Roger said that the occupant of the apartment where the fire originated told him that it started in her bedroom. He could not say what started it.
“All that she was able to tell me was that there was a fire in her bedroom. So I went in and attempted to make it up the stairs, but the smoke was too thick, and there was really nothing I could do,” the seemingly composed man said.

Realising that there was nothing he and the other tenants could do, Roger said he made efforts to contact the fire service and the owner of the apartments, after which he disconnected the electrical panel to prevent further damage.
“We couldn’t do anything else; it was just too late,” he reiterated.

Though the fire originated in Apartment Seven, three other apartments were also gutted, while two were not affected. The extent of the damage could not be assessed, though most of the occupants reportedly lost their belongings.

Two fire tenders arrived shortly after the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) was contacted, and were able to prevent the fire from further spreading.