INVESTIGATORS from the Guyana Fire Service and the Guyana Police Force are probing the circumstances surrounding the destruction of a four-apartment home at Lot 59 Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, Georgetown on Wednesday.

The fire which started at around 01:30hrs on Valentine’s morning, has caused one of the occupants, a pensioner, to be warded at a city hospital after she fell ill, watching her dwelling quarters go up in flames.

The woman, identified as Ingrid Barry, told investigators that she was in one of the rooms in the upper-flat of the building when she heard a shattering sound.
According to her, when she went to investigate, she observed smoke emanating from one of the rooms in the house and immediately took evasive measures by exiting the building through a rear entrance.

At the scene early Wednesday morning, firefighters were busy battling to prevent the blaze from spreading to two nearby buildings.
It was while on the scene, this publication observed emergency medical responders attending to Barry, who was experiencing difficulty in breathing.
Residents told firefighters that the property gutted was also at the centre of a family dispute. The two-storey home is divided into four apartments.

The lower-flat was occupied by a security guard who was not at home when the fire started and by the time she arrived, the building was already engulfed in flames.
Persons at the scene say that the Guyana Power and Light Company took too long to arrive at the location and disconnect the power supply to the area, and that hampered the work of the firefighters.

Added to that, there were no fire hydrants or other sources of water nearby.
Residents related that in 2013, the badly decomposed remains of Barry’s son was found at a West Bank Demerara location, and ever since that incident, the woman hardly sleeps at night.

It was reported that she would normally be on her veranda looking out for her son and would even mistakenly identify passing males for him.
Persons in the community related that the woman had just retired to bed when an object was reportedly tossed at the house.