Two children were rescued on Monday night by a neighbour after a fire ripped through the top flat of their home at Unity, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara.
At the time of the fire, no adult was at home with the six and five year old siblings. Neighbours said that the fire started sometime around 7:00 pm and quickly gutted the top flat of the home.
According to Amanda (only name given), who resides behind the house which caught fire, she saw a glow and upon inspecting she saw a fire inside the house.
“I ran out after seeing the fire and start to call for the children mother, but the little girl said that she wasn’t at home. I turn and tell her come downstairs and open the door and come out, but it was locked from the outside. I went and run and open the door for them,” the neighbour recounted.
She added that she barely had the time to run back to her house with the children, as both flats were consumed by the fire. “It happened so fast, within ten minutes the entire house was on fire,” she said.
Asked if she had any possible idea as to how the fire started, Amanda said that while she was rescuing the children, the six year old girl told her that the brother, who is five, was playing with matches and the chair caught on fire. “She tell me Aunty Amanda we get trouble, I ask what trouble babe and she said Rayaz [her brother] was playing with the matches and the chair caught on fire,” she explained.
Meanwhile, the father Ramzan Hussain, an auto salesman, told Stabroek News that he has no idea how the fire started since neither he nor his wife was at home at the time of the fire.
Hussain and his wife Ravina Singh, along with the two children, rented the house which is located at lot 10, Unity, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara.
The father stated that they were at a nearby shop and rushed home upon hearing of the fire. He added that when they got to the scene the children were already out of the house and the building was ablaze.
The owners of the house, Dolly and Rohan Singh, who live next door, said that they heard the children screaming and when they looked out they saw the house on fire. Dolly added that at the same time she heard Amanda calling for the mother of the children as she ran out of her house and joined other neighbours who had gathered at the scene, to form a bucket brigade.
“Only a few days ago the mother beat the little boy for playing with matches. He was playing with the matches in the toilet, and now we hear he was playing with the matches last night when the house caught on fire,” Dolly said, when asked what might have caused the fire.
She related that with the help of the bucket brigade they soaked her house and Amanda’s until the fire service arrived on the scene and managed to contain the fire and saved the neighbouring homes.
Further, Rohan informed Stabroek News that the house had been there for over fifty years. He added that his father Ramlogan Singh had lived in the house, but after he passed away they began to rent it.
Ramlogan, he noted had been murdered in the house in 2011.
Hussain told Stabroek News that the house had been fully furnished with modern amenities.
He said that his family is currently begin accommodated at his grandparents’ home and they are willing to accept any form of assistance from the public as they work to rebuild their lives.
Persons or organizations desirous of assisting the family can contact them at telephone number 674-3344.
