A family of seven lost all their belongings after a fire, suspected to be of electrical origin, gutted their Lot 7 Victoria, East Demerara home on Friday morning.
Sunday Stabroek understands that fire started inside the home just after 8 on Friday morning while three of the seven occupants were at home.
Adeyemi Rollins, one of the three who was home at the time, told this newspaper that she was on the stairs combing her aunt’s hair when she started feeling intense heat coming from inside the house.
“I try asking one of my cousin, named Samuel, what he doing inside the house but my other cousin said he not at home. So, when I pushed the door to open and see, the room was on fire, the carpet everything was on fire,” Rollins said.
The young woman went on to say that after realising the fire was spreading, she quickly turned off the main switch and ran out of the house.
Another relative, who was not at home at the time told this newspaper that she was at work when she received a phone call informing her that the house was on fire.
It was also alleged that though attempts were made to call the 911 emergency numbers for assistance, the operator on the other end of the line kept hanging the phone. It was not until the fourth attempt that the neighbour was told to call the fire emergency number 912 instead.
It was explained that though neighbours tried to extinguish the blaze, they’re efforts were in vain, and by time the fire tenders arrived at the scene, the wooden structure had already burnt all the way to the ground
As a result, Rollins said they were unable to save anything, leaving the family, including three school aged children and a pensioner with nothing.
Meanwhile, fire investigators are said to have found evidence that the fire started between the Guyana Power and Light connection to the house and the fuse box.
