A house at Parfait Harmonie, West Demerara went up in flames last night at 7:30 and six persons are now homeless, including four children.
The family, Samantha Craig, 37, a probation officer, and her husband Julian Craig, 38, a businessman, were out at Malteenoes Sports Club flying kites with their four children, Julian, 6, Faith, 4, Adeyeni, 10 and Sherifa 15, when they got a call saying that their house was on fire.
Although a fireman told Stabroek News that it is too early to determine what might’ve caused the fire, residents in the neighbourhood are speculating that it might have been electrical. There were several blackouts in the area before the house went up in flames.
Fire chief, Marlon Gentle, told Stabroek News the fire service received a call and they responded immediately. When the fire service team arrived, the house was already engulfed in flames while another was threatened. The team managed to save that house.
A neighbour said the fire service took more than an hour to arrive, and when they did, there was no water.
In a video shown to Stabroek News that was shot by the neighbour, the house was consumed by the fire, and firemen were filing back and forth looking for water.
When Stabroek News arrived, Samantha was being comforted by relatives. She spoke softly, and fought back tears, before finally being taken away by family members. The woman said she will be staying at her family’s home for now.
Her husband was standing several feet away and tears trickled down the man’s face. The man said he could not estimate what was his losses were but it was in the millions.
