A FAMILY of seven has been rendered homeless following a fire at their Lot 7 Victoria Sideline Dam home on Friday morning.
The fire is suspected to have been electrical in origin according to initial investigations done by the Guyana Fire Service.

Eighteen-year-old Samuel Hanover, one of the seven occupants, said he was not at home when the fire started, but he received a message just after 08:00hrs saying that the house was on fire.
By the time he got there, Hanover said, it was already too late to salvage anything.
Reports indicate that around the time the fire was first noticed, one of his young cousins was on her computer while the other was preparing for school.

From all indications, the fire started at the connection between the Guyana Power and Light Connection and the circuit board to the house.
Hanover said that in addition to him, the home was also occupied by his two aunts, three cousins and his grandfather.
The kitchen of the home is located to the other extreme from where the fire was started, according to one fireman who spoke with the family hence concreting the suspicion that the blaze was electrical in origin.

One woman who lives close by, said that her daughter was on the veranda when she observed the fire destroying the façade of the house, and was also moving through the roofing and she raised an alarm.
The woman said that she called the 911 emergency numbers, and the person who picked up the phone hung it up on three occasions. She said that the fourth time she called, she was informed to make contact with the fire emergency number 912.

The cause of the fire is still being properly investigated by both the police and fire department.
When the Guyana Chronicle arrived on the scene, the firemen were conducting their mopping-up exercise. They were seen taking water from an open canal, but because of the state of the aged wooden structure coupled with the breeze and the distance the fire tenders were expected to travel, the house could not be saved.

Occupants of a house located close to the one which was destroyed, removed some of their items before the fire could have spread to that building. That building, too, is wooden and appears aged.