AT least six persons, including two children, are now homeless after the house they have been renting for several years went up in flames on Saturday morning.

One of the occupants of the house said that she was awoken by loud screams of her aunt alerting family members that there was fire burning in the ceiling of the two-storey concrete house located at Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara.

Another occupant, who identified herself as Bibi, said that the family quickly made their way out of the burning building, just before the ceiling came crashing down.
“Abi fall down and suh whilst abi bin ah try fuh run out the house,” the crying woman related, as she held on tightly to the young boy sitting in her lap.

The three older occupants of the house, a man and two women, suffered minor bruises and burns, having fallen several times in their bid to outrun the blaze. Persons living in the neighbourhood recalled hearing the frantic cries for help at around 10:00 hours, and almost immediately, neighbours mobilised and commenced efforts to extinguish the fire.

Meanwhile, some of the more abled-bodied young men in the area sprinted into the bottom flat of the burning house, in a successful attempt to save some of the family’s belongings. As a result, several pieces of furniture, appliances and a ‘handful’ of clothes were salvaged.

Many also praised the efforts of the Guyana Fire Service in managing to contain the fire from spreading to the nearby properties, including Ray’s Auto Sales located south of the now gutted house, and MedX Pharmacy located just in front.

As they contemplate their next move, the family remains thankful that they are all alive and safe. The owners of the property reside a short distance away in Eccles, and were on site to provide comfort and aid to the traumatised family. A team of Emergency Medical Technicians arrived subsequently to tend to the burns and other wounds sustained by the victims.

As of late Saturday afternoon, investigations were still ongoing to ascertain the origin of the fire, but the family is convinced that it was electrical in nature.