A fire, suspected to be an act of arson, gutted a two-bedroom house at Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara early yesterday morning.
The family of Rampersaud Seepersaud believes that he is responsible after he made threats to burn the house two weeks ago.
However, the man told fire investigators that a fan got overheated and caught on fire, while denying the claims made by members of his family.
Stabroek News was also informed that the man suffered burns and was hospitalised at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
According to Mandy Seepersaud, 19, an occupant of the Lot 89 ‘A’ Covent Garden house, she was sleeping at her aunt next door when she learned of the fire. She recalled being awakened by a cousin, who informed her that her home was engulfed. When she got up, she said she saw her father on the road.
She said nothing could have been done since the fire had already consumed the entire building.
Stabroek News was told that firefighters contained the fire from spreading to two other homes. However, those homes were scorched.
At the time of the fire, Mandy explained, her father was the only person at the home. “He told us that he was fixing some fan and it fell, sparked and caught fire,” the daughter recalled. However, she said she did not believe his story since “he always threatening to burn down the house. He made the threats two weeks ago, and he threatened to burn my aunt house too.”
The woman estimated the losses to be between $3M and $4M since the house was furnished with modern amenities.
She the family said they would be willing to accept any assistance from the public and can be contacted on 265-4299 or 699-4748.
