A garbage heap fire yesterday quickly spread in Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, destroying two houses and leaving four persons searching for a new abode.
Deon Wilson, of Angoy’s Avenue, stated yesterday that the owner of one of the destroyed houses lit his garbage heap and headed out. Wilson, a neighbour, said, that after the fire started to spread on the grass he extinguished it and proceeded to take a nap until he was awoken hours after by a commotion that the houses were on fire.
Immediately rushing into action, Wilson said. “I start take water from the trench with bucket and try to out it but the heat was so much I had to run down back…”
Other residents explained, that the wooden houses which are located in the same lot were occupied by two separate families. “The front house had a man and he son and the back house had a boy and he wife.”
According to Wilson, after the fire, the owner of the ‘back house’ claimed that the female was at the house and was asked to keep an eye on the fire. However, the man said, they were told that the young lady was in the house when the fire started and had to run out after neighbours started to shout alerting her.
“Garbage he light and the dry bush deh next to the garbage and that really catch up the fire… I out it this morning when it spread lil bit but me aint know it gonna still spread”, Wilson said.
The ‘front house’ was a one-storey wooden house, while the ‘back house’ was a flat wooden house, both fully furnished.
Meanwhile, residents in the area expressed their disappointment with the New Amsterdam Fire Service as they claimed that they took a long time to show up at the scene. One resident said, “Four time we had to call before them come…”
Given the very dry weather conditions, the Guyana Fire Service has repeatedly warned about the danger of lighting fires.
