Two dead in three separate house fires

Apr 07, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – Three separate house fires within the last 48 hours have left two persons – one of them a pastor dead and a dozen homeless.

Firefighters on the scene at West Ruimveldt

The remains of the house at Berbice after a fire claimed the life of its owner

The first fire took place around 16:01 hrs on Wednesday at Fairfield Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and resulted in the death of 75-year-old Sammy Munian.  Munian’s one- flat wooden house, according to the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), caught fire after someone set a pile of rubbish ablaze close to his home. “The incident was the result of a deliberate setting of fire to rubbish, which subsequently spread to the house that was in close proximity,” GFS stated.

Scenes after a fire destroyed a house at Fairfield Mahaica killing its owner

Firefighters were called to the scene but could not save the house from being destroyed. Sadly, Munian was unable to escape the burning building and when the blaze was fully extinguished, firefighters recovered his charred remains.  Hours later on Thursday, the GFS was alerted to another fire, this time at Lot 11 A Williamsburg Corentyne, Berbice Region Six. Kaieteur News learnt that the fire began around 07:44hrs and claimed the life of a pastor and businessman, 64-year-old, Herman Perreira and left his family of six homeless.  The dead man’s wife, Patricia Perreira, told investigators that she left her husband sitting in their dining room and went downstairs with her two grandsons.

Her grandsons went on the street to play while she sat in her hammock underneath the house. A short while later, she got up and returned upstairs after one of her sons begged to use the hammock. When she entered, the woman reportedly saw smoke emanating from a wall where their air condition unit was located and recalled her daughter immediately shouting fire. Patricia said she became afraid and ran out of the house leaving her husband behind.  Within minutes, the house was engulfed in flames trapping Herman Perreira inside.  The fire service in Berbice was summoned to scene and did their best to save the businessman. They managed to enter the building as quickly as they could and found the badly burnt body of Perreira lying in the dining room. He was picked up and rushed to the Port Mourant Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The GFS said the fire was electrical in origin.  “The fire was caused by the overheating of an AC conductor, which ignited nearby combustibles and spread to the entire building”, GFS said.

Mere hours later on Thursday, another fire erupted at West Ruimveldt, Georgetown.  According to information received by this media house, the fire started just after midday and gutted at least three homes leaving more than a dozen persons homeless. The GFS is presently investigating the circumstances surrounding this fire.

• Berbice, fire, Herman Perreira, Mahaica, Sammy Munian, West Ruimveldt