C’tyne man blames GPL, as fire razes home shortly after power outage

Aug 06, 2019 News

A 50-year-old man is suffering from burns about his face, head, hands and back after his house was completed destroyed yesterday morning during a fire.

What remains of the Rishiram Rajpaul’s home

The injured man

Injured is Rishiram Rajpaul of Line Path Village, Upper Corentyne, Berbice. Reports are that Rajpaul lived alone, and was at home when the fire started at his home, shortly after a power outage.
He told reporters that he was watching television when there was a sudden power outage.
Rajpaul said he stayed on his couch waiting for the electricity to be restored by Guyana Power and Light (GPL), but he fell asleep and was subsequently awakened by the smell of something burning in the house. This, he claims, was followed by a sparking on the electrical wire in the back room of the house.
Rajpaul says he immediately retreated to the lower flat and grabbed a receptacle of water to throw on the area that had already caught on fire.
“I couldn’t do anything with the bucket; it wasn’t flame, it was extreme smoke. When I get up with the bucket, I couldn’t do nothing and the smoke had me, I could not move, and I barely make it to the side at the window to jump out. My neighbour had come in the yard and he put a table and he catch me… a second more and I would have been dead”
Stanley Singh, who rescued Rajpaul, told reporters that he heard his neighbour calling out for him frantically, and he armed himself with a cutlass and rushed into his yard. He was however met with clouds of smoke emanating from the building and he noticed his neighbour gasping for air at the window of the house.
According to Singh, while he was attempting to render assistance to his neighbour, a police patrol was passing and they stopped to assist. The fire service was then contacted but arrived half an hour later.
“The fire service is less than 3 kilometres away and they came without water. They had water problem ‘cause the pump on the brigade ain’t working properly and the area ain’t get proper drainage as well,” Singh added.
Rajpaul is estimating over $15M in losses and said he plans to take legal action against GPL, since it was the fourth power outage in 15 minutes before the fire began. This was confirmed by other residents who also stated that for weeks the electricity has been on and off frequently, coupled with low voltage.

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