THE Mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine along with several members of the Mayor & City Council (M&CC)’s Constituency Eight, has visited the families whose homes were gutted in an early morning fire.

The mayor, upon arriving on the scene, spoke with several victims to make arrangements with the Guyana Relief Council (GRC) about assisting them, since they were unable to save any of their belongings.

The fire, of unknown origin, reportedly started at around 05:00hrs and quickly spread to surrounding houses. Luckily, all of its occupants were able to escape unharmed.
When the Guyana Chronicle arrived at the scene, members of the Guyana Fire Service were already battling the fire with support from residents.

A member of the Perreira family, who lived at one of the houses, told the Guyana Chronicle that she was asleep when she was awakened by a sudden “heat”.
“I scream for my sister to wake up and just get out the house,” the woman said. “We were sleeping. I don’t know which side the fire started; we were only able to save our washer, computer, and couple other things,” she added. Residents have also reached out to the Perreira family.

Shania Ramdohar, a resident whose house was razed, said the Fire Service responded too late. She said the phone lines were busy, and when she was finally able to speak to someone, the respondent asked her to hold. “They telling people hold, and it is not an emergency,” she said, adding: “They say they on their way; 10 minutes pass and they wasn’t here.”

Ramdohar said if the response was prompt, other houses could have been saved. Investigations into the fire are ongoing.