Three units of the Barrington housing complex, at D’Aguiar Park were destroyed in a fire last night.
The origin of the fire which started sometime around 8 pm is suspected to be electrical and fire investigators are working to establish the cause.
The townhouse-style units which have two flats were occupied by foreign nationals.
When Stabroek News visited the scene last night the occupants had exited the compound and firefighters had contained the fire.
This newspaper understands that the fire service responded within five minutes after a telephone call was made.
According to a security guard, he was alerted to the fire after a tenant ran out of her unit yelling `fire!’. He said the woman explained that the fire started in the ceiling leading them to believe it was electrical in nature.
One of the units damaged was occupied by Roger Yee, Managing Director of the GTM group of Insurance Companies.
Yee told reporters that he was sleeping when a neighbour banged on his door and informed him that there was a fire in her apartment. “By the time I came out there wasn’t anything much we could do. The smoke was so thick you could not go upstairs to save anything,” he explained.
Yee said the fire started in unit seven and spread to the two neighbouring units. Two other unoccupied units that are in the same building are believed to have suffered minor damage. The fire reportedly spread through the ceiling.
Yee added that he contacted a friend who informed the fire service.
Meanwhile, the owner of Barrington Apartments Complex, Nunes Hussein told Stabroek News that he was not present when the fire started. He said he was contacted by a friend who informed him and by the time he got to the building the units were already gutted.
The tenants were unable to save any items.
