Kitty shack goes up in flames after kero stove left unattended

Apr 22, 2019 News

A dilapidated wooden cottage at Lot 39 Public Road Kitty, Georgetown was destroyed yesterday afternoon after one of its occupants allegedly left a pot of rice boiling on a kerosene stove.
About five persons are now homeless.
Renatta Small who had occupied the premises with her husband said that she was outside in front of the gate combing someone’s hair when she noticed smoke coming from inside of the home. Small, whose two children reside at another location, said that the fire spread rapidly because the house had lots of “old wood.”
According to her, “Sherwin” who resided in the cottage left a pot of rice boiling on a kerosene stove and went “up the road.”
She said that after Sherwin learnt that the house was on fire, he never returned home. She related that Sherwin was in the habit of leaving the house while the “pot on the fire.”

Firefighters putting out the blaze yesterday.

Small said that all of her personal belongings were destroyed.
“Everything I had get burn up. Look I have a box with some things out here. My husband ain’t know that the place burn down as yet. I have to borrow a phone to call him or go down at his work place. Me and he was to go and watch movies tonight.”
Asked where she would be staying, Small said, “I got family.”
The woman said that she has been living at the premises for a number of years. Residents in the neighbourhood alleged that the occupants had “a set of garbage in that yard.”
Firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to nearby houses. Up to press time, police were still trying to locate “Sherwin.”