A fire suspected to have been caused by unattended diyas that were lit on Saturday night in celebration of Diwali, resulted in a two-storey concrete house at Golden Grove on the East Bank of Demerara being destroyed.
The fire reportedly started at around 20.15 hrs at Lot 214 Section ‘A’, Block ‘Y’, Golden Grove.
At the time of the fire, Stabroek News was told that the occupants of the house were not at home. It is unclear how many persons occupied the home.
Yesterday, when Stabroek News visited the scene, neighbours said they only became aware of the fire after noticing a glow and smelling smoke. This newspaper learnt that the fire started in the top flat of the building.
The neighbours said that by the time they were alerted it was too late for them to do anything as the fire had already ravaged the upper flat of the building. Firefighters from the Diamond Fire Station were summoned to the scene and promptly responded. However, reports from eyewitnesses said that the tender had no water and a second fire tender had to be summoned.
According to the eyewitnesses, the fire tender had to source water from a nearby trench to aid in extinguishing the blaze.
Fire-fighters are still to determine the cause of the blaze.
