A family of six watched all their possessions burn to nothing yesterday afternoon after the house they were living in was consumed by flames.
Reports says that Richardo Harris, who lived in a two-bedroom house situated in the Torani compound, East Berbice-Corentyne, had just left the house with his wife, who is five months pregnant, and four children, when they saw smoke rising from the direction of one of the house’s bedrooms.
Upon seeing the smoke, the family dashed back to the house to try to quell the flames but by the time they got close enough it had already been taken over by fire. Incidentally, a vessel was said to have been passing on the river around the same time the fire broke out. Witnesses say the vessel passed the house and stopped when the fire was spotted. Unfortunately though, the vessel’s water hose was too short and could not reach the burning house. Since there is no fire station in the area, the fire was left to burn unchallenged.
Everything they had in the house was destroyed.
Harris, an employee of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), was stationed at the compound to help operate the sluice which transfers water from the Berbice River to the Canje River through the Torani Canal. The compound is also owned by GuySuCo. Officials from the sugar company have reportedly been contacted and a team is expected to head into the area tomorrow.
