Explosion precedes mystery fire at Leonora

Mar 26, 2011 News

A section of the gutted house

…completely guts top storey

A fire of unknown origin has left a Leonora, West Coast Demerara family homeless after their two-storey wooden house was destroyed yesterday afternoon.
Toolsieram Hurry, the patriarch of the family, said that he was not at home when the fire started. Hurry said that he was taking a relative to the airport when he received a telephone call from a neighbour. The man said that he completely forgot that his relative had a flight to catch, since he just turned around his vehicle. When he arrived home, firefighters were attempting to quell the blaze. The firefighters managed to save the lower flat of the building which sustained minimum water damage.
The owner of the house told this newspaper that he lived there with his daughter-in law and two grandchildren and could not at the time estimate his loss. He said that they lived in the upper flat of the building and everything was completely destroyed.
One neighbour told this publication that he heard a loud explosion shortly after noon. The man said that soon after the explosion plumes of smoke were seen emanating for the building followed by heavy flames.
The neighbour said that he quickly called the Leonora Police Station, who contacted the fire service.
Residents commended the response time for the fire service, but lamented that there was no water. The fire fighters had to resort to a nearby trench.
A fireman who was at the scene briefly told Kaieteur News that they have ruled out that the explosion was caused by a cooking gas bottle given that in order for that to happen, the bottle containing the gas need to be subjected to extreme heat. Following the fire the smell of cooking gas continued to permeate the kitchen area of the house. The building, according to the owner, was not insured.

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