Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn says that the house which was destroyed by fire at Barnwell Village, East Bank Demerara, resulting in the deaths of three children had unauthorized electricity access.
“…. Electricity was being taken from a power line, I guess unauthorized and the identification by the investigation of the fire service experts is that it was electrical in nature,” Benn told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday.
The fire occurred around 1.25 am on May 26th at Lot 10 Field, Barnwell, Mocha, EBD.
At the time, three children Timothy Kippins, 8; Triston Kippins, 6 and Zhalia Flue, 1 were alone at home. They perished in the fire.
Their mother, Tracey Flue was at work.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) later indicated that investigations revealed that the fire was electrical in origin.
Based on the information provided by Tracey, police had initially suspected that the fire was an act of arson.
As a result, a wanted bulletin was issued for Tracey’s ex-boyfriend. However, hours after the bulletin was retracted after it was determined that the fire was electrical in nature.
Tracey had claimed that the fire may have been maliciously set by her ex-boyfriend. She said the man was very abusive and had threatened to kill her on many occasions. “I was in a relationship with a abusive boyfriend, I go to the station countless time to make report, this month-end suppose to be we court day and he tell me that how anytime I go to court it go be the last day I ever see a police and how he gon kill me,” she said.
In a report, the GFS had said that two water tenders were dispatched to the scene. However, when they arrived, they were unable to access the burning house due to the deplorable state of the road.
However, when they eventually did, the house was already engulfed in flames.
After the fire was put out, investigators comb the scene and the charred remains of the children were found.
The children were laid to rest on Tuesday.
