–investigators due today to launch probe

FOUR Cuban doctors stationed at Mabaruma, in the North West District have been rendered homeless after the house in which they were staying was gutted on Monday morning.
Residents reported that the fire consumed the building within minutes, as they all looked on helplessly. But, thankfully, the doctors were all at work when the fire broke out.

Asked by the Guyana Chronicle to comment on the incident, Fire Chief Marlon Gentle disclosed that the fire reportedly broke out around 11:00hrs, and quickly engulfed the one-storey building. He said, too, that while up until the time of speaking with this newspaper, its origin was still unknown, a team of investigators was en route to Mabaruma, and is expected to arrive this afternoon to begin their investigations. Word is that the Guyana Fire Service is in the process of establishing a base at Mabaruma.

Due to the proliferation of fires here in the past few weeks, persons are starting to say that this is a new “epidemic” while remaining equally cautious because of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Just last Saturday evening, a family of three perished in a fire at Cummings Lodge on the lower East Coast Demerara.

Given the sudden upsurge in fires across the country, Gentle said persons need to be conscious of their surroundings and practise basic fire-safety drills. “Some of the recent fires are basically carelessness, and some involve people setting fire to buildings, but we do not want to cause an alarm,” the Fire Chief said. “We have been having our fair share of fires since this year started,” he lamented.

Just recently, a pensioner, one Mr. Dhanhiram Harcharan, lost his home when a two-storey building in Kingston went up in flames. Also, four persons were left homeless after a fire, suspected to be electrical in origin, gutted their home at Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara, one week ago.

Early this month, a bodywork shop and at least one other building at Lusignan, on the East Coast Demerara, were destroyed by fire. Again, just last month, the former Morocco Hotel and another within the same compound at First Avenue, Bartica, were also destroyed by fire. Additionally, persons were left homeless after an early-morning fire ravaged their home at Lot B-2, Bent Street, Wortmanville, back in April. As the numbers continue to climb, authorities will have to be ever watchful, as the country reportedly recorded over 700 fires in 2019 alone.