– suspect kerosene was mixed with gasoline
The alleged unsafe practice of a fuel dealer may have been the reason a kerosene lamp exploded on Saturday night causing a mother and her teenage daughter to sustain severe burns.
Bridget France, 38, and her 14-year-old daughter Nadisa France are patients in the Burn Care Unit at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
When Stabroek News visited the mother and daughter yesterday afternoon, Bridget, with burns to her face, arms, legs, chest and other areas of her body, was in a worse condition than Nadisa, who also sustained burns to her face and other areas.
Bridget told this newspaper that she was in her Marlborough, Lower Pomeroon house when the incident occurred. According to the woman, Nadisa had attempted to light the kerosene lamp some time after 6 pm when it exploded.
She said she rushed over to assist her daughter and before she knew what was happening she was “covered” with flames as well.
“We bought kero earlier that day for the lamp,” Bridget said, “but de people does use the same container to measure de gasoline and de kero. Is mix de two things get mix up and the lamp caught fire and exploded,” she reasoned.
It was this alleged unsafe practice of the fuel dealer that caused the two females to be injured for life, relatives said yesterday. “… if you see they face. Those are scars they will carry for the rest of their life,” one distressed relative stated.
Flames from the exploded lamp spread through a portion of Bridget’s home. However, she said the efforts of two other children saved their house and most of their possessions. The woman’s 15-year-old daughter, Anaeisa France, and her 12-year-old managed to contain the fire.
Anaeisa, who was present at the hospital yesterday, told Stabroek News that she and her brother were at the landing when they heard screams coming from their house.
The young woman said that they rushed home to the “horrible” sight of their mother and sister in flames.
“All we coulda do was throw water and put the fire out,” Anaeisa said.
That Saturday night Bridget and Nadisa were placed in a boat and transported over nine miles of water to the Charity landing then taken to the Charity Hospital. Relatives said that hospital could not deal with the severity of the burns and the mother and daughter were then taken to the Suddie Hospital.
Bridget and her daughter were transferred to the Georgetown hospital early yesterday morning.
