Woman perishes in New Amsterdam fire

Jun 09, 2011 News

A 52-year-old woman was burnt to death in her Lot 30 Stanleytown home last evening. The woman, Hazel Johnson, was the sole occupant of the home at the time. She and some other occupants had been renting the premises from someone who resides overseas. Reports suggest that Johnson was visually impaired. Her remains were found on the lower flat of the building.
The home was owned by Patrick Benons, whose family once owned the famous Benons School in New Amsterdam.

Whats left of the burnt out house

The building was divided into two living quarters. The other occupant Jean, returned from church only to discover the building engulfed in flames.
The fire started in a room at the front of the building.
According to reports, the fire started around 20:30hrs. The entire town of New Amsterdam had been plunged into a blackout some two hours earlier.
Hundreds of residents turned up at the scene as did all the fire tender from the New Amsterdam Fire Service. The latter was assisted by the tender from Rose Hall Estate.
Ironically, there was a fire hydrant in front of the woman’s home but it was not in working order.
The firefighters did their best to save the structure but that too was reduced to mostly ashes.
Crime Chief Courtney Ramsey and other senior police officials along with investigators were on hand to supervise the operations.
The crowd did not reduce in number until the firefighters brought out the charred remains of the woman.
Loud wailing rent the air in the blackout-stricken Stanleytown community.
The dead woman had two sons, Clairmont, who resides in the USA, and Chris Humphrey who lives in Guyana.
The last fire that claimed lives in the town of New Amsterdam occurred on January 24, 2009 when Funeral Parlour owner, Ivor Persaud, along with his wife and two grandchildren perished.

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