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Suspected arson leaves 7 homeless after New Amsterdam fire
(Kaieteur News) – Two separate households sharing a two-storey residence have been displaced by an early morning fire which destroyed their home on Sunday.
The incident occurred at Lot 53 Winkle Road, New Amsterdam, Berbice.
The destroyed property at Lot 53 Winkle Road, New Amsterdam.
At home at the time was 23-year-old Joel Jagmohan who, along with his wife, their one-month-old baby, and his 62-year-old father, was asleep in the lower flat of the property.
“I was sleeping around 02:00/02:30. My old man wake me up. The man tell me he called me like nine times. He call with a loud voice and I come out of the room. When I come out the room, I see nuf’ smoke,” Jagmohan recalled.
Joel Jagmohan, 23, who occupied the lower flat.
He said his father had told him afterwards that he had felt an overheating in the room and grew concerned. His father was situated in the back room, and the elderly man got up from his bed in an attempt to ascertain the source of the heat. He would observe flames and smoke from the outer portion of the house.
“He said, ‘Brian, Brian, the place burning down!’ When I come out me room, I wake up my wife and seh ‘hey, smoke’. I run in and run out, and I fall down. I panicked. I collect me son.”
The construction worker managed to move his family to safety, as portions of the lower flat sustained damages.
The fire destroyed the upper flat of the building completely.
The owner of the property, Gail Ann Williams, 49, told Kaieteur News that she was out since earlier in the day tending to some business, when a neighbour called and informed her that the house was ablaze. Her 17-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son were at that neighbour when the phone call was made.
Gail Ann Williams, 49, standing in the remnants of her destroyed home.
“When I coming on the Canje Bridge, I see the smoke up in the air. I said ‘yes Father…’ then I park and I come and see the fire.”
Williams estimated her loss at just over $3 million. Items lost included electronic devices, a generator, PVC equipment, and valuable household appliances. A motorcycle, valued over $600,000, was also damaged.
Her daughter Wanita told this publication that she and her brother were alone upstairs. Just prior to the fire, they retired to bed.
“I went in my mother room. My little brother, he went in my room with his phone. He said he’s tired, he going and sleep. I went and sleep. Then something told me to get up now. When I get up, the whole house was engulfed in smoke,” she recounted.
Inside the upper flat, completely demolished.
The teen recalled struggling to wake her brother, battling dreadful thoughts that he was already dead. After he woke, they sprinted across to the neighbour for refuge.
Officials from the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) in New Amsterdam ultimately confirmed that the fire was maliciously set by persons so far unknown.
Meanwhile, both Jagmohan and Williams praised the prompt response of the fire service, noting that the team of firefighters arrived within 5 minutes and managed to extinguish the flames, saving a section of the lower half.
Jagmohan said he lived at that residence for the last three years, while Williams said she resided there all her life.
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