The upper flat of a Leonora, West Coast Demerara house was gutted by a fire of unknown origin yesterday afternoon.
Tulsieram Hurry was on his way to the airport when a neighbour contacted him and informed that his Lot 121 Sharp Street, Leonora home was on fire. The fire, Hurry said, started between 12pm and 1pm.
The man said that he is yet to speak with fire officials and is unsure how the fire started. However, Hurry explained that reports reaching him have suggested that the blaze started in an upper flat bedroom. “There is no electrical appliance in use in that room…I really don’t know how the fire could have started…the only thing I am left to think is that it was probably something with the electrical supply to the house,” the distressed man said.
Speaking with Stabroek News last evening, Hurry said that he was unable to estimate his losses. He explained that he, his daughter-in-law and two grandchildren occupied the house and they dwelled mostly in the upper flat. The majority of their furniture, appliances, important documents, jewellery, clothes and other valuables were destroyed during the fire, Hurry said.
“My wife died about a month ago and my sister-in-law came down for the funeral and she was staying with us for a while,” Hurry explained. “My son died a few years back so my daughter-in-law and my two grandchildren with me too…we were going to the airport with my sister-in-law and nobody was home when the fire started.”
Hurry said he was halfway to the airport when he received that call about the fire and by the time he returned to his home the upper flat had already been gutted.
The man explained that the upper flat was made of wood and a bit of concrete and the lower flat was made entirely of concrete.
“The bottom flat is alright…the fire people soak it good. So is just the top I will have to fix-up,” Hurry said.
The man further said that it was his neighbours contacted the fire service who responded promptly. A second fire tender, he said, was on its way to Parika and also lent some assistance to control the blaze. “The fire people did their job…there was nothing they could really do to save the upper flat,” Hurry said.
Hurry said that he was advised that investigators from Georgetown would visit the scene.
However, at 5.30pm the investigators still had not arrived. The man further noted that he does not believe the fire at his house was “deliberately set” but it is still important to him to find out how the fire started. “I want to know how it start, so I can take the necessary precautions when I redo my house…my daughter-in-law and grandchildren will stay with relatives tonight but I will stay in the lower flat to keep an eye on things,” Hurry said.
