Latest update April 7th, 2026 12:30 AM
Albouystown fire wipes out five homes
…leaves 30 homeless
Scenes from the fire at James Street, Albouystown
Kaieteur News – Several families of James Street, Albouystown, are now homeless after a Thursday afternoon fire reduced their homes to ashes.
Derrick Sharples
Five houses between Hill and Albouys Streets were destroyed, leaving about 30 persons displaced. The blaze started shortly after 14:30 hrs. By the time Kaieteur News arrived on the scene, three houses were already engulfed and the fire was spreading. Residents complained bitterly about the Guyana Fire Service’s (GFS) late response, arguing that the losses could have been prevented.
Alisha Farnan, a 32-year-old single mother of two, said she was at work when she got the devastating call. “I went at work, when I got a phone call that my house on fire, I didn’t get to save anything, ohhh my gawddd, everything gone. I didn’t get to save nothing for my children,” she cried.
Another tenant, Nekita, recalled that residents first tried using buckets of water to douse the flames. She said she managed to alert a woman and her son inside one of the buildings, who escaped unhurt. “It had a set of rubbish in front of the yard and the rubbish catch and started the fire. Everything burn up. Everything burn up,” she said, blaming the fire service for not arriving sooner.
The fire is believed to have started in a yard where garbage was being burnt, reportedly occupied by persons residents described as “junkies.” From there, it spread to nearby homes. Property owner Mohamed, who lost two of his buildings, estimated his losses in the millions, while tenant Derrick “Fred” Sharples said he only managed to save documents and a television.
“Its hurtful, because all your things them burn up… all my lil money, I was saving fuh buy a car, all that money burn up in there, all my lil savings,” he lamented.
Alisha and Nekita comforting each other
Divisional Officer Otis Charles of the GFS reported that on arrival, “one building was fully engulfed in flames and another was now starting to catch afire…”
He said firefighters immediately got into action and accessed water from open sources as well as hydrants. As the smoke cleared, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) leader Azruddin Mohamed visited the scene. The affected families were also visited by Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, and Human Services Minister Vindhya Persaud.
Notably, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) has since activated a shelter at the Six Head Lewis Gym to accommodate the displaced, providing temporary housing and personal supplies.
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