Fire destroyed a home at North Haslington, East Coast Demerara on Thursday night leaving 17 people, among them seven children, homeless.

The origin of the blaze which started in a back bedroom of the two-storey house is not yet known but everything in the home was destroyed. The family managed to save one foam mattress.

A dazed Roland Spencer who said he has lived in the home for 41 years, told Stabroek News he was not on the premises when the fire started a little after 9 pm but when he got there the entire upper flat was burning. He said the fire raged with an intensity he had never seen before.

“This fire de rushing towards ya and bunning things fast. I tried fuh save something and run downstairs when de ceiling collapse on me,” Spencer related.

The man showed evidence of scrapes and deep cuts on his body. He said persons who had gathered at the scene along with relatives pulled him out from the burning rubble. After he was dragged to safety, Spencer said, he decided to quit trying since his life was more important than material things.

Recounting what happened the man said his nine-year-old niece first spotted the fire in her bedroom and sounded an alarm. The child saw smoke coming from the bedroom and when she looked under the bed she saw a fire. Spencer was at a corner shop when a nephew delivered the news and he sprinted home. Within the five-minute period it took him to reach home, he said, the fire had already engulfed the upper flat.

He said other occupants of the home along with neighbours and friends started a bucket brigade minutes after the alarm was raised but it ended abruptly. Spencer said the bucket brigade used the water tank at the back of the home and began throwing water on the fire. While they were trying with that the fire spread to the water tank.

After the fourth bucket of water was thrown Spencer said the water tank collapsed. One of his relatives who was on the tank’s trestle fell and sustained minor injuries.

The man said the fire service was called immediately after the fire started, but the fire tender showed up one hour after.

“We never stop calling dem. We call and call and when somebody finally answer she wan know wha type ah fire it is. When we tell she, de phone hang up and they come ah hour late,” Spencer related.

He said when the fire tender eventually got there it had no water to put out the blaze. Spencer said he and the rest of the family watched as their home burned. According to him, the family has made arrangements to sleep at a relative who also resides in the area.

The man lamented that they have lost all of their belongings. He said the children lost their school uniforms and text books among other things in the fire.