An investigation is underway into the cause of a fire at a home at Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden early Christmas morning, which claimed three lives.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) said firefighters from the Linden Fire Station responded to the fire at approximately 02:45 hrs on December 25 at Lot 2692, Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden.
The structure involved was a two-storey wooden and concrete building owned by Veronica Headley and occupied by 30-year-old Zella Lawrence, 16-year-old Angelique Lawrence, and eight-year-old Ronika Lawrence, who all perished.
The GFS said immediate actions by firefighters contained the blaze to the bottom floor of the building, where a sofa set was destroyed, and four metres of ceiling, along with a quantity of clothing severely damaged.
In an interview with Stabroek News, Onika Lawerence, mother of the children and sister of Zella Lawrence said that on Saturday she travelled with her two daughters to Linden to spend Christmas with family. Upon arrival in Linden, the trio stopped at Zella Lawrence’s apartment in Amelia’s Ward; it was her first time visiting since her sister moved to her new apartment.
After a few hours, they went to the family house in Mora Street, Mackenzie. When they arrived there, Lawrence said, Angelique told her that they had forgotten a bag with clothes at Zella’s apartment. She promised her daughter that they would retrieve it later.
At approximately 20:00 hrs Zella left work and went to the house in Mora Street, Lawrence related. She subsequently left for the supermarket, but Lawrence retired to bed before she returned. However, at about midnight, Lawrence said, she was notified that her daughters had gone with their aunt to her apartment. She said she wasn’t alarmed and returned to bed. However, at about 02:00 hrs, they received a call and someone told them that Zella’s apartment was on fire. When she got to the scene, she said, she was told that her sister and daughters were unable to escape the apartment.
Lawrence said she later visited the hospital and noted that the bodies of her daughters and sister were not burnt.
Thirty-year-old Zella was a nurse and a mother of two children, a six-year-old and a baby who will be one year-old on December 29. She was described as loving and career driven.
Sixteen-year-old Angelique was a student of Golden Grove Secondary School, East Coast Demerara. She was described as an introvert and was expected to sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams in 2024.
Lawrence told this newspaper that she was not granted a subsidy for Angelique and as a result her last words to her daughter were: “I want you to make me feel proud and don’t disappoint me because I didn’t get subsidy for you and she said, ‘yes mommy I will make you proud’.”
Eight-year-old Ronika was a student at Smith’s Memorial Primary, Georgetown. She was described as jovial and entertaining.
“I feel devastated and broken,” Lawrence said. “I no longer have my two girls and sister with me. Every minute on Saturday Ronika keep kissing me and saying ‘mommy I love you’, all day.”
