FIRE of unknown origin erupted at 455 ‘B’ Field, Sophia, completely destroying the back of a large apartment house, which is owned by Sean Gittens.

Gittens told the Guyana Chronicle that he does not fully live there; however, he has a number of valuables in the property. In addition, he said that two of his sons occupy the front section of the building; they are 19 and 21 years of age.

“I was at one of my other places when I got a call telling me that my house was catching afire. When I reached here, they told me that the fire started from the back, but I want to ask some questions to some people. However, when I called the fire people it was enough time for them to reach here to save this place; because when I get the call, it was late and I reach here and went up the steps and was able to take out a suitcase. The place was ok at that time,” he said.

He said that by the time the firemen and tenders reached the building, they had their own problems because the hose was tangled up and at the same time, they did not have any water. This caused the house to burn down, said Gittens.

Cassis Fortune, who resided in the back of the building with her mother who is blind, said she and her mother had breakfast and then decided to take a rest.

“I told my mother that when I get up I would cook, because tomorrow I have to go to work for three o’clock. Now, while I was lying down I kept feeling a terrible heat and seeing smoke. Then I asked mummy what really was going on and she said she ain’t know. Then I checked all around and everything was alright, but when I reach outside the neighbour said that there was fire.”

She said immediately the neighbours went into action, starting to throw water from outside as others called the fire service.

Fortune said she was convinced that the fire was coming from under the building, even though nobody is living under there.

Fortune and her mother lost everything in the blaze.

“All that we owned went up in flames, even my passport. Because of the heat and the smoke we were not able to save anything from the house; but thank God me and my mother safe.”

Meanwhile, Gittens said what has compounded his losses is the fact that since his fire insurance expired, he was not able to have it renewed; and so he has no coverage for all his losses.

“I took a loan from the bank to finish my house; this was my pension and I really struggled to make it happen. In fact, the last valuation I had done because of the loan put the house at a value of $30 million. This is big losses for me now,” he told the Guyana Chronicle.