A fire believed to have started in a pile of garbage yesterday afternoon razed a Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara variety store and severely damaged a neighbouring home leaving millions of dollars in damage.
Brian’s Variety Store located at 94 Mon Repos Housing Scheme was destroyed by the fire while the neighbouring house, located at Lot 95 Mon Repos was severely damaged.
Persons condemned the Fire Service for the sloth with which they arrived at the scene. They said that even though they called the fire service immediately after the blaze was noticed, they came at least half an hour after, and the store was already destroyed. However, the firemen managed to save the neighbouring home though it was severely damaged.
The owner of the store, Brian Rampersaud said that the building housing the store was owned by relatives residing overseas.
According to neighbours the fire started in a pile of garbage to the north of the store and caught on to the building quickly at just after 1:30 in the afternoon. Mark Anthony Ramkissoon, a neighbour, who with others attempted to put out the fire, told Stabroek News that he was at home when he heard persons shouting “Fire! Fire!” He said that he rushed over to the store and attempted to break into it using a crowbar but it was very well secured and he was unable to do so. “We were trying to break in but we can’t go in”, he stated. Using buckets in a futile attempt, the residents tried to douse the flames but were unable to keep up with the ferocity with which the fire grew. They managed to break one of the doors to the store but were prevented by the grill from entering and even that would have been impossible as inside the building were “just flames”. Ramkissoon said that in less than 15 minutes the building was totally consumed. Though neigbours called the fire service immediately after the fire started, they arrived too late to save the store. “If the fire truck come when we call them they woulda get to save the shop. When the building near foh done then it come”, they said.
When Stabroek News arrived on the scene minutes after the fire service, residents along with the firemen were frantically trying to set up the hoses, some of which leaked. However, they were unable to access water at first and eventually resorted to using water from a canal located some distance away. As the store was already destroyed, the water was first directed towards the neighbouring building which was in danger of being destroyed as it caught fire a few times.
The devastated occupant of that building, Drupattie Suhsahai related that she was in a hammock outside her home when she noticed the nearby building was aflame. She called to her husband and he attempted to break the fence and go over but the flames and heat drove him back. The distraught woman, tears streaming down her face, lamented that all she managed to save was a mattress and everything “even me pickney clothes bun”. She said that the machines that her husband, who recently had an operation after being involved in an accident, used, as he did upholstery work for a living, were all destroyed. “The heat bruk up all them thing”, the woman cried. She said that when she tried to re-enter the building to save a few items, the heat and smoke was too much for her. She related that eight persons lived in the building including her three children, all below the age of ten, the youngest being just two years old and her elderly father-in-law. She too condemned the sloth with which the fire service responded to the fire declaring that they took a very long time to come even though numerous calls were made. The woman, watching as the firemen directed water through her windows, lamented that the heat and water destroyed all her belongings. The tearful woman related that she was living at the house for eight years and now she didn’t know what to do. Her neighbours tried to console her.
Meanwhile, Brian Rampersaud, the operator of the store related that he was at his Lusignan home eating lunch when he got the call informing him that the building was on fire. He said that as it was Sunday the store was only opened for a half day and at 12:30 it was closed and secured and he and his family went home. He said that according to his information, someone threw “some fire” in the garbage and it started from there. He stated that before leaving all the appliances were unplugged. He said that the items in the store were worth millions and recently he took some credit from persons and didn’t know how he would repay them. He recounted that when he arrived at the scene a few minutes before 2 pm the flames were “all over” and there was nothing that he could do. He condemned the fire service saying that the response was “totally bad”. He declared that it was 45 minutes before the fire service got there and when they arrived there was no water. “They were totally late”, he said, adding that when they arrived the place was already engulfed. He stated that the destruction of his business is a severe blow and asked how he would repay his creditors. He said that apart from the credit he took, millions in stock was kept in the building and a son also lived there. He noted that when he started his business, 15 years ago, it was a snackette that he was operating. He was however grateful that no one was injured though other relatives were in shock and in tears over the incident.
As the firemen fought the flames a nearby electricity pole caught fire a few times and the firemen periodically directed a stream of water towards it while scores of residents turned out to watch the conflagration.
Several days ago a high-profile meeting was convened by the government on the fire service. The fire service has often been criticized for its poor response time to blazes and shoddy equipment such as water hoses riddled with holes.