WELL KNOWN photographer and former General Manager of the Guyana National Printers Limited, Angold Thompson, perished in an early morning fire that completely destroyed his Lot 73 John Street, Campbellville, Georgetown, home on Tuesday.

A national awardee, 76-year-old Thompson was one of eight persons who resided at the property. The others, including two teenagers, are now homeless.

Reports are that the occupants of the home were alerted to the fire at around 02:00hrs, and they were all making their escape; however, while leaving with his wife, Thompson reportedly went back into the building and became trapped by the raging flames.

The family said they have no idea what could have motivated Thompson to return to the burning building.
“He bring out my mother, but then turn back for something and got trapped in the building. We don’t know what he turned back for,” Thompson’s son, Kioja Thompson, shared.

Kioja lived at property with his wife in an annex at the back of the building, which was divided into three separate households.
The senior Thompson and his wife occupied an apartment in the upper flat of the building, while his daughter and her three children lived in an apartment downstairs. Kioja recalled that after an alarm was raised, he woke up to see a section of the lower flat smoking.

“I was sleeping when I heard somebody shouting fire! Fire! When I come around to the front, I notice smoke coming out of the middle room, so I go around and pick up a bucket to get some water.

“While I’m getting water, my sister and her kids come outside, but my niece had gotten trapped in the back room, so we broke the window for her to get out and, at the same time, my parents were coming out, but my dad turned back,” the son recalled.

Though firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after, Kioja said that the fire had spread too fast for anything to be saved.
“By the time I had go around for the water, the whole room was red and after that the fire just [kept] spreading. They call the fire station and by time they come, the fire did done gone all over the house, because with the wind it blows fast,” he related.

Kioja said that the cause of the fire had not yet been determined; however, there are suspicions that it might have been electrical in nature.
“My nephew said when he woke up, he noticed fire on the wall to the ceiling. I don’t know if it was a wire or fan but it was something leading to the ceiling,” he said.

The family estimated their losses to be in the millions, and, according to Kioja, the family had recently done some renovations to the property.
“It’s a lot of stuff because only January I borrowed $600,000 to do an extension and all my stuff inside of there; documents everything gone. I can only talk about my stuff, but my sister had her own investments in the house as well,” he added.

Thompson said that his family will be seeking refuge with relatives until they can figure out their next move.
Angold Thompson, also a celebrated artist, died just one month shy of his 77th birthday. He leaves to mourn his wife, five children and 15 grandchildren.