– Gentle
CHIEF Fire Officer, Marlon Gentle said, yesterday, that the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) is awaiting a report from electrical inspectors to determine the cause of the inferno that destroyed the home of Solicitor General, Sita Ramlal on Sunday. He said the inspectors had visited the scene at Lot 2 Bel Air, Greater Georgetown, but, so far, there is a high probability that the blaze may have been electrical in origin.
The reason for that speculation is because fairy and other decorative lights were left alight during the night, causing the electrical system in the house to be overloaded.
Gentle said it is believed that the installations overheated and the circuit breakers failed, igniting the flames which quickly consumed the two-storey building that was occupied by seven persons, including retired Major General, Norman McLean.
The destruction of the wood and concrete edifice early Sunday morning occurred while the occupants were asleep, resulting in two persons being injured in their effort to exit the premises.
On Sunday morning, after the blaze which resulted in millions of dollars in losses to Ramlal and her family, McLean, speaking on behalf of the displaced persons, too, said he was sleeping around 04:00 hrs but was aroused by banging sounds and got up to see thick smoke and flames inside the house.
He said he and the other occupants all managed to get outside but two of them were hurt, one suffered a cut while trying to open a window and the other was scorched by flames.
McLean said the fire engulfed the building quickly but they all, sitting under a shed at the back of the burnt out place, were thankful for their lives,
Those who were living there included Ramlal, her mother, a brother and a sister, some of whom were still shaken by the incident which has rendered them homeless.
Gentle told the Guyana Chronicle that the (GFS) received numerous telephone calls sometime after 03:30 hrs and two tenders and a tanker were dispatched from Central and Campbellville stations.
He said it was reported that a security guard on duty observed the front curtain in the upper flat ablaze shortly after a male occupant of the residence had let out his girlfriend.
Gentle said when firefighters arrived at the scene, the two-storey was completely engulfed but they sourced water from a trench in front and managed to contain the conflagration, also saving the house next door. But three water tanks mounted on a trestle were burnt while nearby trees were scorched.