A family of five will now have a blue Christmas after a fire on Saturday night destroyed their two-storey home at Bee Hive, East Coast Demerara.
Stabroek News understands that Michelle Cromwell and her husband, Jeffrey Cromwell, were attending a wedding reception at Anns Grove, East Coast Demerara, while their three children, ages 20, 18 and 15, were at church when their home went up in flames.
A relative of the family told Stabroek News that the fire started at around 7:30 pm and by the time members of the fire service arrived on the scene the house was already gutted taking with it years of hard work by the family. And it was not a case of a lack of water in this instance as the relative told Stabroek News there was about 10 inches of water in the yard due to the ongoing flooding. Michelle was forced to take a taxi to her home but when she got there she had to stand and helplessly watch her house devoured by the fire.
An electric wire had fallen into the water and this dissuaded persons from venturing into the yard to assist. It was only yesterday morning that members of the family visited to inspect the damage. It is believed that the fire was electrical as relatives related that just before it started a wire was seen sparking.
“It had to be something like that because they ain’t had on nothing in the house, just the fridge so it had to be electrical,” the relative said. The relative added that the Guyana Power & Light (GPL) was contacted after it was observed that the wire was in the water and it said that they would have to contact the Sophia office. It was hours after GPL employees turned up and cut the power. It was also stated that the area was experiencing low voltage for sometime.
“They lost millions of dollars, they had everything, fridge, washing machine, computers, TVs, everything and all gone,” the relative said. He said Michelle also reared fowls most of which died from the heat. “Tomorrow was me birthday and I was to get two and all to celebrate and now this.” The relative said what makes the loss even more difficult is the fact that the house was only recently renovated and painted. The family had been living at that location since the couple got married in the 1980s.
They are now all staying with relatives at an Anns Grove house.
