Fire, suspected to be electrical in origin, yesterday gutted a Bartica home and confectionery shop, leaving seven persons without a home and millions in losses.
Althea Matthews, 20, said she owes the loss of her home to the ineffectiveness of the fire truck that arrived promptly on the scene but with no water. The woman explained that firefighters arrived within minutes of the report but as they prepared to extinguish the blaze, they found that there was no water accessible in the truck.
“When they come, only the downstairs was on fire. They could have saved the house and our belongings but they didn’t have any water!” a frustrated Matthews said. They were then forced to leave the Lot 28 Fifth Avenue, Third Street, Bartica scene and they returned about 15 minutes later, by which time the house had already burnt to the ground.
Recalling the ordeal, Matthews said she was awakened by smoke around 1:49am and ventured out to see what had caused it. The entire one-storey house was engulfed with thick smoke, she said, but there was no sign of a fire, so she decided to go down the staircase and take a peek outside. Below the house, she explained, she saw a single light bulb, which seemed to have caused the blaze as it was surrounded by the flames. “I open the backdoor and ran downstairs and saw the fire under the house around the bulb… like it overheat and spark or something,” the woman said.
She stated that she immediately returned upstairs and picked up her three-month-old baby, Trey Christopher Fisher, and raised an alarm which attracted the attention of her two neighbours. She said she ran downstairs and handed the baby over to one of her neighbours and returned to get her other two children, Crystal Fisher and Chris Fisher, three and two-years-old, respectively.
Matthews noted that no other persons assisted her and so she was unable to save any of her valuables. Instead, she said, she was forced to stand by and look at her home, which her husband owns, being destroyed.
“My neighbour had to hold me, because I was going in to save some things… the house is well furnished and everything was brand new,” the young mother said.
She noted that her husband is a miner and is currently in the interior. After sharing the tragic news with him, Matthews said the man declared that he was thankful she and his three children were not harmed in any way.
“I told him I ain’t get to save anything because nobody came to help me… it was just my two neighbours and we couldn’t do anything but he said it is okay,” she added.
Living in the house also were her two brothers, who were not at home at the time of the incident.
Destroyed in the fire were a motorcycle, electronics, furniture, money, gold jewellery and the woman’s confectionery shop, which was also stocked and well-furnished.
Matthews estimated the loss to be in excess of $8 million, though she said she could not be certain.
When Stabroek News spoke to the woman yesterday via telephone, she related that she was at the time at her husband’s relatives and was yet to make plans. “I’m here until we probably get somewhere else or until things can get better… we don’t know as yet what we will do,” she said.
