Fifteen persons lost their homes when fires, suspected to be electrical in origin, gutted two homes at Betsy Ground and Reliance, in East Canje, Berbice yesterday.
The home of Whaid Majeed, 44, a cane harvester went up in flames around 9 am at Betsy Ground. He only managed to save a gas stove from the lower flat of the three-bedroom structure.
Majeed occupied the upper flat with his wife, Fazeela Budhoo, and his children, Ameena and Ameer, while his mother-in-law, Ester Budhoo, 63, lived in the bottom flat.
He told reporters that he and his family were in the lower flat when an alarm was raised about smoke coming from a bedroom upstairs. He ran up to investigate but by then the fire had already started to spread. He then watched helplessly as the entire house was gutted.
The fire at Reliance started around 2 pm at the home of Chandrapaul Seth. Seth lived with his wife, Yasoda Seth and eight other family members in the house. Seth said the fire started in a room in the upper flat and he tried to douse the flames but he was no match for the blaze and had to retreat.
He recalled that he and other family members were in the kitchen downstairs when they heard screams coming from the upper flat of unpainted wooden structure.
By the time he realized the house was on fire, he said, it was too late to put it out or save anything.
