A Triumph, East Coast Demerara man has been hospitalized with severe burns after he narrowly escaped from his burning home following a desperate attempt to save items from it on Saturday evening.
Winston Profitt, 41, of Surat Drive, Triumph suffered burns to his head and back and was admitted to the Burn Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital. He had attempted to re-enter the burning building in a bid to save some items when he was hit by a wire and falling debris. He managed to make it to the door and escape.
The house at Lot 30 Surat Drive was destroyed. Profitt, his sister Leona Profitt and her 11-year-old son lived in the upper flat while their sister Sarah London and her three children ages 9, 12 and 13 resided in the bottom flat. Nothing was saved from the building and the fire which started at around 7pm only took a short time to raze the building. The Profitts believe that the fire was electrical in origin given that it started after power was restored following a power outage.
London told Stabroek News yesterday that she had just left the premises and Winston was home along with two of her children. She said that shortly after, she was informed that the building was on fire and rushed home. She said that residents had heard a sound just before the fire.
The woman related that earlier a transformer on an electricity pole in the neighbourhood had blown and repairmen were there to fix it. She said that the electricity was off and on and it was when power was restored that the fire began. “Like it come on with a high voltage but that was the outcome,” she said, while she and her sister sat outside in a little shed contemplating their next move.
London stated that the fire started at the front of the house at the fuse in the upper flat. She said that Winston had gone downstairs to take a bath when he smelled something burning. She related that he warned her children to come out the house before he went back upstairs. “He was going back in the house to see if he could save anything and like he get trap. Some wire lash he and something else fall on he,” she recalled. “He crawl and he came out in the landing and when he catch he self, he run down the steps,” she said. Winston ran to their grandmother’s home. Leona said that her brother was only wearing his shorts.
The Profitts criticized the response of the fire service. She said that they arrived when the house was still burning but they could have saved a portion. “They coulda save a part but they aint had no water…they say it hard to drive with water,” she related. “Till the house burn flat, flat that is when they spray lil water,” she added.
The family said that the house burned quickly. It was purchased for them by their father and they were residing there for three years. The building is insured, Leona said. They did not save anything and they could not immediately put a value to the items lost. For now, they are staying at various relatives.
The nearby Triumph Assemblies of God church was also damaged by the fire. Church elder and caretaker, Rudolph Rodney told Stabroek News that there were two power outages and when power was restored for the second time, he heard a “tick.”
“When we go to the front of the road we saw smoke coming out of the side of the house,” he said. He said that he saw a man, in an apparent reference to Winston, run outside with two children. Rodney said that the building burned quickly and though four fire trucks came, they had no water and could not do anything. He said that when they eventually managed to get water, some of the hoses leaked.
Villagers had formed a bucket brigade which sourced water from the church’s tanks. The church was in danger of catching afire and the bucket brigade sought to fight both the fire at the house and save the church.
Assistant pastor of the Church, Lynette Munroe said that their losses are at around $4 million. Windows, the fence, parts of the wall, roof and ceiling were severely damaged by the fire.
Investigations by the fire service are continuing.
