POLICE and the Fire Department continue to investigate the cause behind Sunday night’s fire at Lot 28 School Street, Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara.

According to reports, Omardai Persaud, 60, lived in the two-storey house which she shared with her 62-year-old sister– Deocali Persaud, her 79-year-old mother– Liloutie Persaud and her aunt– 65-year-old Kalawati Boodram, and two nephews.
During the blaze, an apartment building next door was damaged.
During an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Kalawati Boodram explained that she lived in the upper half of the home and was wheelchair-bound due to one of her legs being amputated.

Boodram further explained that about 18:00 hours on Diwali night, she was sitting on her stair when Omardie Persaud, who lived downstairs in the lower flat, came home and was lighting Diyas from inside of the house leading to the gate.
She added that she heard Omardie shouting “Oh meh God, Oh meh God, all thing gone… fire! fire!” and when she peeped she saw the redness coming from the blaze.
“I could have died” the elderly would stress, as she said that she was rescued from the house by her neighbour.

“I believe is the Diya ketch from the blind while she (Omardie) was outside… because the fire started downstairs” Boodram said.

“Everything burn, money, jewellery, meh NIS books, even the money I got to pay for my hospital bill next month,” the worried woman said.
Just recently, the woman said, she did some repairs to the house, and everything was lost in the fire; losses she estimated to be over $8M.
Meanwhile, she is debunking the claims of Omardai that the fire started from the electrical meter at the back of the house.

When the Guyana Chronicle was shown the electrical meter, everything appeared to be intact; no damages were seen by the layman observer.
Anyone wishing to contact Boodram can call 233-5981 or 669-3510
The partially destroyed Lot 29 School Street, Peter’s Hall property, which had an apartment on each flat, was rented by two separate families. No one was at that home at the time of the fire.