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Berbice businessman suspects arson as home, business razed
A businessman of Number 75 Village, Upper Corentyne, Berbice believes that his home and business were targets of arson after he was awakened to find his property up in flames yesterday just around 3:00 am.
The neighbours’ pick-up that was damaged
The two-storey building was completely destroyed
Harrinarine Singh, known as ‘Sham’
Harrinarine Singh, familiarly known as ‘Sham’, and his wife are estimating close to forty million dollars in losses, after the fire ripped through the entire building, burning everything in its path. He told reporters that he was asleep when he heard the continuous honking of a vehicle horn. Singh said that upon inquiry, the driver of the vehicle shouted that his home at the back, in the bottom flat, was on fire.
“After they told me the fire coming from the back, I run and check and then I ran back in the bedroom and woke up my wife and children and we tried to escape,” Singh recounted. He added that he was frantically searching for his door keys, since there was a power outage during that time, but the flames began to ‘walk through’ the building in minutes, and he was forced to jump through a window with his wife and children.
Singh stated that at that moment he could not think of another way to escape the blaze, but luckily they landed on a shed attached to the house, “we jump out on top the shed and it had a truck park, so we jump on top the truck from the shed and escaped”, he said. The businessman believes the incident was an act of arson.
Kaieteur News was informed by the businessman that he recently purchased trucks, tools and equipment as a means of expanding his block-making and fish distribution business. He managed to save the trucks, a car and a motorbike, but his furniture, home appliances, business equipment, vehicle parts and a licensed firearm were all reduced to nothing. A next-door neighbour told reporters that the fire scorched the walls of their building and also burnt a Toyota (old model) pick-up in their yard.
The businessman chastised the Fire Service for what he described as their lacklustre attempt to save his hard-earned home and business. According to Singh, the fire service was contacted as soon as the blaze was spotted. He said they arrived some 30 minutes later, when, he opined, half of the property could have been saved, since “only the back half” was consumed with the fire when they reached the location. He however stated that due to difficulties the firemen experienced with a pump, the entire building was razed in their presence.
An investigation has since been launched by the fire service to determine the origin of the fire.
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