Occupants blame arsonists for Soesdyke fire

May 19, 2008 News

A Soesdyke resident believes that a fire that completely destroyed her house on Saturday night was the work of arsonists.

Sueet Williams, her three children and a niece are now homeless as a result of the fire at her 139 Soesdyke Back Road house, which occurred at about 21:00 hours.

At the time of the fire Williams and the rest of the household were visiting another relative a short distance away.

The house, which was recently renovated, is owned by Williams’s father-in-law, who resides in the United States of America.

Speaking with this newspaper yesterday, Williams said that on the day of the incident she had secured the house and was at a relative when someone came and told her that the property was on fire.
At first she did not believe the news, because she had not left any electrical appliance on in the house, nor had she left anything on the stove.

“I say, ‘Me house can’t deh pon fire’. He tell me, ‘look up the road,’ and when I did, I saw the smoke and told him, ‘Dat is not me house’,” Williams recalled.

She, nevertheless, went to investigate.

What she saw shocked her. It was indeed her house on fire.

According to Williams, so intense was the blaze that although there were initial attempts to save some of her belongings, not very much could be recovered.

She told this newspaper that when neighbours first saw the blaze, they went to the house and found that the front door was already open.

She said that the neighbours told her that the fire was first seen on a bed and a chair in the house, and there was the smell of gasoline.

“I did not leave the door open,” Williams told Kaieteur News.

The woman recalled that early yesterday morning, upon checking her backyard, she observed a fresh trail in the grass which she believes was used by the suspected arsonist to escape.

“I don’t have a problem with anyone so I cannot see how something like this could happen,” Williams said.
The owner of the house has already been informed and an investigation has been launched.