An eighty-four-year-old Rose Hall woman was yesterday rescued from her burning house during the mid-morning hours.
Joyce Beaton resided at Ganpat Street, Rose Hall, Corentyne. The house was occupied by Beaton and her son Nigel, 51, who is a cane harvester. At the time of the fire he was not at home. The fire occurred around 10:15 hrs.
According to a niece, the fire started from the kitchen. She said her aunt told her that she was cooking on a one-burner kerosene stove and it flared up. She explained that the fire caught on to a window curtain and quickly spread.
According to the niece, she was over at a neighbour’s home when she heard her aunt calling out to her. The woman stated that when she answered the call she noticed smoke emanating from her aunt’s kitchen and she sounded an alarm for help. The niece said a man called “Banana” was in the area and responded to the woman’s calls.
The hero collected a bucket of water and rushed up the stairs in an attempt to put out the fire but was unable to do so since the fire had already consumed a large section of the upstairs. At that point the man picked up Beaton and took her to a safe spot. The fire destroyed the entire house within minutes.
The woman, wept bitterly as the furious flames devoured the house. Fire-fighters were unable to do much to save the house as they experienced tremendous difficulties accessing water. The fire- fighters from the Rose Hall Fire service arrived immediately after being alerted and began to tackle the blaze with the water they had in the tender. However, after the water was used up they tried to source more from a trench next to the market but were unsuccessful as the drain is filled with vegetation and garbage.
Residents said the town council pays no attention to the drain and the condition of that drain has been the same way for several years.
The fire service according to the niece had assistance from the Albion Estate Fire Service. Other homes nearby were soaked by bucket brigades as the heat was high and the flames were threatening. Fortunately no other building caught afire.
The house had been around for over six decades but was equipped with modern amenities.
