Two children burnt to death, three others survive
TWO children were burnt to death in their home at La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, Wednesday night.
But three others jumped several feet to safety from the two- storey house and survived the blaze. Those who died are Andrea James and Jarvis Douglas and the survivors are Brian Douglas, Dillon Douglas and Andre James, who said his cousin died in his sleep and his sister was afraid to make the leap through a window.
Speaking to the media yesterday morning, the 10-year-old said he, too, was asleep but awoke after feeling intense heat. He said he opened his eyes and realised that the mosquito net was on fire.
The boy said he quickly removed from under the net and attempted to alert the others. He tried to make his way to his sister and his cousin who were in another room but was thwarted by the flames.
He said he was getting delirious when he made the jump, injuring one leg in the process. Then he began trying to persuade the other children to jump but they did not, for fear.
The children’s grandfather, who spoke to the media yesterday, recalled that the house was built in 2004.
He said, based on what he was told, the fire started at the main electrical switch in the building and there was very little the children could have done to save themselves.
The man, who did not give his name, said the wiring was between the ceiling and the roof and, after the fire started, it quickly ran along the wire and caught sections of a wall that are made of PVC material.
Then it spread to the beams and roof, which came crashing down and made it difficult for the children to flee from the inferno.
However, one of them broke through a window and slid down a banister to safety.
At a wake
The owner of the house, Roxanne Douglas said she was in the city at a wake, for a friend’s brother, in Tucville, Georgetown. She had left home around 19:15 hrs, leaving her younger brother to look over the children and news of the tragedy reached her when she about to leave the wake.
She said, when she, eventually, saw her younger brother, he informed her that he had gone to purchase a phone card and received word that the house was on ablaze.
Douglas said he told her he had rushed upstairs to enter the house through the front door but it was then that the roof fell, blocking his way and attempts to enter from the back proved futile as that door was bolted from the inside.
She said she does not have any children of her own and all those who lived with her were those of her siblings, two belonging to a sister who passed away some five years ago.
Meanwhile, a neighbour, Amanda Bishop said she activated a pressure hose that she has and began dousing the flames but quickly realised the futility of her effort and summoned the Fire Service.
She said she beckoned the children to jump giving them the assurance that she was going to catch them but they were reluctant.
The residents said that the fire engine took a while to get to the scene, also because of a barrier on a bridge that gives vehicular traffic direct access to the front of the house.
The fire tender was forced to use the other street which is not in a proper state and residents expressed concern over that situation that caused the firemen not to arrive in a timely manner.
Douglas estimated her loss in millions, as apart from household items, she operated two small businesses on the premises and had a $3M loan from a commercial bank since 2004.