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Mid-morning fire destroys West R/veldt house
By Zena Henry
Members of the Walcott family of 638 Hibiscus Street, West Ruimveldt, are
The fire quickly engulfed the family’s property.
counting their losses after a mid-morning fire completely destroyed the five-bedroom one-flat concrete house that they once occupied. The fire’s origin is so far unknown but initial reports are that the blaze started right after electricity would have returned to the area subsequent to a power outage.
Just after 11:00 hours, a female neighbour reported seeing smoke emanating from the rear of the building. The neighbour was alerted by a visiting friend and an alarm was raised.
The neighbour, who asked not to be identified, said that “within no time at all,” the blaze consumed the entire structure. She attributed this to a strong wind blowing at the time.
It was explained that some eight persons occupied the family house, since visiting relatives are in the country for an upcoming wedding ceremony. They would have arrived in Guyana about a week ago. At least two persons were said to be in the home at the time of the incident. The
Police investigators take reports while the Walcott family members grieve the loss of their home.
distraught and upset relatives refused to speak to the media.
In a report to fire investigators, a relative was overheard saying that she was at the time sewing in preparation for the wedding when the electricity had returned. She said that there was a blackout, and when the electricity returned, flames were noticed coming from a section of the house.
The occupants had to run to safety as the blaze quickly spread. They saved absolutely nothing. Another relative who arrived on the fire scene sometime after the blaze was over was heard saying on her cellular phone that “everything is gone.” The woman who cried uncontrollably said that she received a phone call saying that her house was on fire. She said she quickly picked up her children from school and raced home, only to find that the property was completely razed.
Some residents were quite upset, because according to them, the fire station is located a few blocks away from where the fire occurred, yet they took some time to respond to the emergency call. They claimed also that the fire tender sped to the fire scene but had little water, with poor pressure to counter the blaze. It was alleged that several minutes later another fire tender and water tanker arrived on the scene before the firemen could have effectively tackled the inferno.
The thick dark smoke was seen as far as South Ruimveldt. As news of the fire began to spread, residents and curious onlookers began to converge on the scene. The building was destroyed in less than half an hour.
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