Joycelyn Johnson, a 56-year-old grandmother is grateful for her neighbours’ quick thinking in forming a bucket brigade to save her Grove, East Bank Demerara home from burning to the ground yesterday morning.
Johnson suffered minor burns on both her hands and forearms. “I saw the bedroom was on fire and saw my granddaughter. I ran to pull her out from the room and the fire”. Johnson’s two year-old granddaughter suffered burns on her back and her legs. Both grandmother and granddaughter were treated at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre before being released.
The fire which began at around 09:00 hrs did not destroy the home, Johnson told Stabroek News. She said that her neighbour were quick to form a bucket brigade and extinguish the fire before it spread past the bedroom. She said that the single-story dwelling was badly burnt on the outside and the bedroom where the fire began needed to be cleaned and reorganised. “The whole bed went up in flames, I don’t know what started it. I was going to bathe my granddaughter and when I watch in the room it was on fire,” Johnson related.
The grandmother stated that she lives in the home with her daughter and granddaughter. She related that originally she was worried that her daughter was also in the home when the fire began and looked for her but was relieved when she realised her daughter was at work.
Johnson stated that her granddaughter is due back at the hospital today for a check up, “they gave her a few injections and we came home, we going back tomorrow to the hospital. She get burn bad, but we are doing okay”. She noted that she was relieved to be in her home and will finish cleaning the damage today.
