An Edinburgh family lost everything when a fire of unknown origin destroyed the furnishings in a one-flat concrete house on Sunday evening; no one was at home at the time of the fire.
While most of the structure is still intact, all the items in the house, along with a portion of the roof, were destroyed in the blaze.
According to information gathered, the Lot 1094 Edinburgh Housing Scheme, East Bank Berbice house belongs to Ishwar Singh, 31, a technician at GTT, New Amsterdam branch. He resided there with his wife and two children aged nine and three years old.
Relatives of Singh told Stabroek News, that his wife was on vacation overseas and he and his children were at his parents’ house in Cumberland Village, East Canje.
Neighbours related that around 9 pm on Sunday, they saw fire coming from the last room in the concrete structure. Arthur Lewis said he was in his bed when he heard loud fireworks-like sounds. On looking out, he noticed flames coming from Singh’s house. “The fire start at the back room in the house,” he said, adding that he raised an alarm. However, according to Lewis, neighbours could not render assistance, since the entire house was heavily grilled.
The fire service was summoned and arrived 30 minutes later. Lewis said the firefighters could not save any item in the house, but were successful in containing the blaze and eventually putting it out.
Neighbours opined that the fire was electrical in origin; they stressed that Singh was a quiet person, who did not have issues with anyone in the village.
Stabroek News confirmed that the house had electricity at the time of the fire. One neighbour said that the Guyana Power and Light Inc cut the power after becoming aware of the blaze.
Singh’s parents told Stabroek News, that his wife was expected to return today. They said they have extended an invitation for Singh and his family to stay with them. They also stressed that the couple worked hard to build and furnish their home and that this was an enormous blow to them.
