A family of four persons was left without a home when a fire of unknown origin yesterday destroyed two houses at Better Hope, East Coast Demerara.
A weeping Lilawattie Toolsie, 47, owner of one of the houses and caretaker of the other, stated she was at work, about a block away, when she received a phone call from her sister in law informing her of the fire. No one was at home at the time of the fire, she said. Nothing was saved.
Toolsie is a single parent and would seek domestic jobs from various persons on a daily basis to supplement her family’s income. Yesterday, she said, she received a job to wash and clean for someone who lives on the nearby railway line. She cleaned her home and left around 8:30 am, ensuring that all appliances were off.
According to Toolsie, neighbours heard a loud explosion coming from her home.
This was followed by smoke and then the blaze. She added that by the time she reached her home, there was not much that could be done since both homes were wooden and were already engulfed in the blazing inferno.
A car that was parked in her garage downstairs was also lost, since no one could jump start it.
She said neighbours also told her they were scared to push the car out of the yard for fear that it too would have exploded.
Toolsie, her two daughters and her son live in one house while the other is owned by a brother who resides in Suriname.
Her daughters were at work at the time of the fire, at a store in Georgetown, and her son was in a village not far away.
Residents were dissatisfied with the response time of the fire service.
One person said that neighbours had formed a bucket brigade and were dousing the houses with water from a nearby trench but their efforts proved futile. When they realised that the nearby house was also in jeopardy, they began wetting it until the fire engines appeared.
The owner of that house was thankful for the help received from residents.
When approached, a fireman stated that they responded immediately after receiving the call.
However, he noted that because of the distance from the city to the village and the fact that the houses were wooden, none of the buildings were saved.
