THE Guyana Fire Service has launched an investigation into a fire which left a family of five homeless on Friday at Lot 202, Clifton Settlement, East Berbice Corentyne.

The fire which started at approximately 11:00hrs quickly engulfed the two storey wooden structure. According to reports, at the time of the blaze, a mother and her three children were at home.

While speaking to members of the media, John Elias related that he received a call informing him that the house was ablaze so he quickly made his way home, only to see the structure completely engulfed.

He explained that he has been renting the property for the past four years and recently, he has been experiencing fluctuations with the electricity.

The man said his traumatised wife told him that she noticed sparks from the wire that leads to the meter, followed by smoke and minutes later a curtain caught afire.

“It started by the electrical wire and then took the blinds and spread on the house. We have power shortage recently and high and low voltage so I told my wife to take off all the appliances so she didn’t know something was wrong with the electricity because all the appliances were off at the time,” he said.

The hire car operator and part time mechanic said he valued his losses at close to a million dollars. He said he was unable to salvage anything from the house, while noting that being able to restart life while supporting his family will be very tough. He said he has three young children including a two year old to provide for.

An eyewitness recalled seeing smoke emanating from the area around the meter and quickly raised an alarm but before a bucket brigade could have been formed the fire swept through the house in short space of time. The eyewitness stated also that umpteen calls were made to the fire brigade but when the firefighters arrived it was too late.