– as house goes up in flames

A SELF-employed joiner suffered in excess of $20M in losses after the house he was occupying was destroyed by fire on Sunday evening.

The fire, suspected to be electrical in nature, gutted the two-storey wooden
and concrete house located at Block ‘E’ Line Path Corriverton, East Berbice.

Reports are that it started minutes after a fluctuation of power in the area that day at around 21:30hrs. Rishieram Rajpaul, 50, said he’d fallen asleep on the sofa in the living room during the power outage, but was awoken to heavy smoke surrounding the area.
He said that his immediate reaction was to rush downstairs to get some water, but by the time he got back, the smoke had gotten so intense, he was unable to do anything but feel his way around to get out of the house,
since by then everything was pitch black, as all the doors and windows were closed.
The fire reportedly started in the ceiling of the back bedroom.

Rajpaul, who suffered minor burns to his face and hands, said that after he made it to a window, he called out to a neighbour
who came to his rescue, as did the police who were on mobile patrol.
He has since sought treatment at the Skeldon Hospital, and having been released, is now seeking treatment at the National Ophthalmology Hospital, as his vision is somewhat impaired.

In addition to the entire house being burnt to a cinder, the businessman lost all the tools of his trade, along with work he’d just competed and was awaiting to be picked up by customers.

Neighbour, Stanley Singh, who recalled hearing louds calls for help, said he initially thought Rajpaul was being attacked by bandits, so he armed himself with a cutlass and ventured out, but on drawing closer, he noticed the smoke, and Rajpaul
barely hanging out from the window.

“I jumped the gate and saw him hanging over the window,” Singh said, adding: “I told him not to jump before he get injured, so I pulled a table close to the window and catch him.”

An investigation has been launched into the fire.