A man was yesterday left homeless after a fire of unknown origin destroyed a two-storey wooden and concrete building at 24 Norton Street, Georgetown and also threatened to destroy neighbouring homes.
Acting Fire Chief, Gregory Wickham, said that the cause of the fire that started around 15.32 hours yesterday is yet to be determined and confirmed that one building was destroyed by the blaze. He noted that the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) had responded quickly to a call received from a resident of the area informing that a fire had broken out. He was unable to give the exact response time but said that the fire-fighters used up the contents of four water tenders to extinguish the fire and were able to prevent the fire from spreading to other homes. However, a neighbouring two-storey building did suffer some minor damage caused by the radiated heat from the blaze.
Flexon James, one of the tenants in the upper flat of a neighbouring two-storey home that was largely unaffected by the fire, praised the GFS for the swift action taken to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to his apartment. He told Stabroek News that around 3:30 pm he saw that the back of his apartment had a little smoke and then he started smelling the smoke.
He then heard a ‘boodoom, boodoom’, noise outside of his apartment. He started to call for a man who resided downstairs and he got no answer. When he looked outside he saw that the downstairs of the back house next to his, was on fire. He quickly used buckets of water from his apartment and threw it on the fire in an effort to put it out.
The fire then engulfed the upper flat of the building and he used tubs and took his clothes out of his washing machine and filled it with water so as to continue to assist in extinguishing the fire.
James recalled that around 3:30 pm when firefighters arrived, they were able to prevent the fire from spreading to three neighbouring homes. His washing machine that was located on the back stairs of his apartment was destroyed due to the blaze. His black tank and waste water pipe were partially melted, a part of his apartment ceiling was gone, and quarter of the PVC gutter on the building was also affected by the blaze.
The downstairs tenant related to Stabroek News that she too heard a noise around 3:30 pm, and came outside and saw the fire and joined in calling the GFS, she confirmed that they arrived promptly on the scene and commended them for a job well done.
Meanwhile, Hamza Mesheo, a 24-year-old businessman, told Stabroek News that he was sitting at the back of his yard when he heard a noise next door. He said that when he looked over to the neighbouring house at the back he saw smoke emanating from the bottom flat of the home. He then saw fire erupt from the lower flat and alerted the neighbours. Mesheo told this newspaper that he immediately called the fire service. They arrived in less than 12 minutes and were able to contain the fire. He said that the man who lived in the now-destroyed home has been left homeless as everything was destroyed by the fire.
Stabroek News was unable to speak to the owner of the gutted building about the losses incurred, however Noel Harry, a friend and employee of the owner, said they heard a strange noise and when they checked, there was a blazing fire at the back of the owner’s home. He said immediately everyone started to call the GFS and they arrived quickly on the scene and set about extinguishing the fire.
