A PENSIONER identified as Iris Baron, 81, died in a fire Friday night which also destroyed her house in Bartica, Region Seven, after a candle fell onto flammable materials.

According to the Guyana Fire Service, at 22:23 hours Friday they responded to a report of a house on fire at Lot 203 Mongrippa Hill, Bartica.

However, despite the firefighters’ efforts, the pensioner’s one-storey wooden and concrete house was completely destroyed with her inside.

The fire also caused damage to a nearby two-storey wooden and concrete building. The top floor of that building was occupied by a family of four while the bottom flat was occupied by a family of five.