Firefighters quell blaze at Costello Housing Scheme apartment building

Mar 09, 2018 News

Hours after the Guyana Fire Service received mixed reviews for its handling of the devastating fires in Kitty on Wednesday morning, yesterday it received nothing but praises for averting a major catastrophe in Costello Housing Scheme, West Ruimveldt.
Just before two o’clock yesterday morning, residents woke up to the smell of smoke and fire in an apartment building which was unoccupied at the time. They told Kaieteur News that the male occupant, who is hardly ever home, would leave his air condition unit on day and night, and they fear that is what caused his apartment to be completely destroyed by fire.
The fire service was alerted by residents and while the latter awaited the arrival of the tenders, a woman who is said to always have a drum of water filled at her back door, kept dousing a nearby apartment to prevent the fire from spreading. She was successful in her efforts.
One woman, Simone Parker, explained that she was sleeping when she began experiencing a burning sensation in her nose. She said that she jumped up and looked through her window where she noticed “a big heap of smoke” emanating from the secured apartment.

A close-up view of the damaged area

She said that the discovery was observed sometime close to 2 am. The firefighters, according to Parker, explained that the fire might have started as a result of a slack electrical connection.
The woman expressed concern of what the state of the community would have been like today had she not been awakened by the smoke. She spoke specifically of how the fire would have displaced and affected dozens of children and a large number of adults.
“That is what everybody asking; what would have been happening today? Everybody scatter because the pace that fire was going at this morning was crazy; it was crazy. But the fire workers they were prompt, because while I was throwing to wet this one side they came, they really worked” the woman recounted.
The building that was gutted is a concrete structure and right next to it was another concrete building. The fire, however, was spreading via the roof.

The apartment buildings where the fire took place

The grandmother of the young man who lived at the house said she got up to use the washroom in her apartment and when she opened the door she felt intense heat and immediately observed the fire in the apartment. It would appear that all the persons who live close by were conscious of or alerted to the fire around the same time.
The elderly woman who gave her name as Olivia Stephens, said that her grandson would lock up his apartment and not even leave the keys with her. She said when she saw the fire she attempted to see what she could have salvaged from the house but the doors were all locked.
The man was reportedly informed of the fire by his grandmother.
Another woman who lives close by indicated that this was the third time a fire in the said apartment had threatened the entire block. She said that one night they saw fire coming through the vent of the house and when they sought assistance and broke down the door of the apartment, they discovered a candle lit on the floor on a mat and left unattended. The man and his female companion were again not in the house.
She said the time before that young man left something on the stove and that also caused a fire to erupt in his apartment.

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