Fire destroys home, business at Non-Pareil

What was left of the building after the fire

-family of four homeless

By Subhana Shiwmangal

A fire of unknown origin completely destroyed a one-storey home and business located at 24 Non-Pareil Block 12, East Coast Demerara, yesterday morning, leaving a family of four homeless and several employees jobless.

The property houses a pillow and furniture business with a storage bond that stores furniture and raw material to make pillows, including foam, and fabric, while the family resides in a back building.

According to the owner, Mohamed Ali, who occupied the building along with his wife, an infant son, and step- son, while he could not say exactly how much he lost in the fire, he had lost most of the items he had in the bond to sell and all of the items in his home. He relayed that he was not at home when the fire started but at around 9am, he received a phone call from his neighbour telling him about the fire and by the time he got to the scene, the building was already engulfed in flames. He added that his wife, one of his sons and the baby were home when the fire started. As far as he knows, the fire erupted from the home and spread to the storage bond. He added that he has no idea what caused the fire.