A dilapidated two-storey wooden building on High and Barrack Sts was gutted by fire this afternoon and many persons are homeless.
The fire started at around 2 pm and the fire service battled desperately to contain it and stop it from spreading to other buildings. At least two fire tenders were spotted at the scene. Around 3 pm the fire was contained to the building where it started but the entire structure was destroyed.
Dozens of people are said to be homeless as several families occupied the premises. Occupants of the building were distraught and there were anguished screams as the fire took hold. Not much was saved from the building in the frenzied rush to evacuate.
Reports from the scene said that the fire started in the upper flat after a pot was left unattended on a stove. This building had been one that had been listed as a fire hazard.
There was scorching of a building in the vicinity.
The fire, a police source told Stabroek News, started at about 2 pm. Just over an hour later firemen were able to contain the flames, preventing it from spreading to nearby houses and businesses.
Several residents told Stabroek News that the building was a huge hazard.
“It is an accident waiting to happen,” a resident, who lives in Barrack Street, told Stabroek News. “but then you got to look at it from this angle as well there were many poor people living at that building…these are people struggling to make a living and with no place to go.”
When Stabroek News arrived at the scene about 30 minutes after the fire started one fire tender was present and efforts were being made to contain the raging blaze. Minutes later a second fire tender arrived and joined in efforts to control the blaze.
Many residents, who had gathered to look on, were heard voicing concerns about the fact that both tenders arrived at the scene without water.
“This unbelievable…dem come to a fire without water…what they de plan to do? Blow it out? This is just plain stupidness,” an upset resident, who declined to have their name published, said.
Another man, who also requested anonymity, told Stabroek News that he was in the Regent Street area when he noticed the smoke. He rode to the location, he recalled, and arrived there about 10 minutes before the first fire tender.
“When the first fire truck come they na de have water and they had to pump the water from the drain and they na de getting enough,” he said.
