Latest update January 18th, 2025 7:00 AM
East Coast fire destroys $4M worth in hardware and other supplies
A fire at Happy Acres, East Coast Demerara on Saturday evening gutted a storeroom leaving close to $4M in damages. According to reports, the fire occurred at around 19:00 hours at lot 138 Happy Acres.
The burnt out remains of the store room at Happy Acres, East Coast Demerara.
Owner of the property Neville Peters told this publication that he was at home doing some work on his computer when he was alerted by neighbours. Peters occupies a house with his family on another lot which is located in the same compound where the store room was.
According to Peters, by the time he reached down into the yard he was also told that the fire service was already informed. However it took the fire tender which came all the way from Georgetown about an hour and a half to arrive on the scene.
“The men did acknowledge that they had some trouble locating the place as they drove around the area several times.”
Peters told this publication that as the fire grew and while he awaited the fire tender he began dousing the building with his garden hose.
“My car was parked not far from the building and I manage to remove the car, but we kept hearing the fire tender siren so we had to send a man on a bicycle to bring in the fire truck,” Peters said.
Counting his losses, Peters said several pieces of high end house hold appliances, stationary, clothing and hardware items were stored in the building.
“This will be a major setback for my business but I just have to pick up the pieces but the damages could have been avoided if there was a fire station nearby.”
The man pointed out that if this continues to be the case there will be a lot of losses as a result of fires.
“If the buildings weren’t so spaced out the damages could have been more as you can see the house at the back got a little damage but what if the fire had spread more,” Peters questioned.
As it relates to the possible cause of the fire, Peters said he is at a loss but noted that over the past few weeks the area has been experiencing a fair amount of blackouts and power surges.
Meanwhile, the Peters said the fire service has launched an investigation having returned to the burnt out site early yesterday morning to carry out a better inspection.
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