Three persons are now homeless, following a fire yesterday afternoon which gutted the top storey of a Kitty house.  The fire is believed to be of electrical origin.

A fireman inside the house directs water to quell flames after fire struck at this Barr Street, Kitty home yesterday.

The Lot 177 Barr Street, Kitty home belongs to Patrick and Mala Moonsammy, proprietors of Mala’s Variety Store on Regent Street. The couple lived in the top flat of the two-storey building with their 8-year-old son Kennard.  A quick response by the Fire Service saw the fire being contained to the top storey of the building.

According to the neighbouring residents, the fire occurred shortly after 1 pm and rapidly spread through the entire top flat within minutes. Fortunately, no one was at home at the time of the fire. Patrick Moonsammy told reporters that he was on his way home, when he received a call saying “ya’ll house burning down”.  He said that when he reached his home, it was too late to save anything.  He estimated his losses to be about $20 million and said he lost valuable equipment including a computer, a television and his music set.

Tears of loss: Mala Moonsammy cries upon arriving at her home only to find the building gutted yesterday.

He said that he had stock stored in the bottom flat of the house but at the time, he was unable to say if anything had been damaged.

When the man’s wife arrived at her home at about 1:30 p.m., she burst into tears and had to be restrained by her family members and friends.  During her wails, she expressed her belief that the fire was electrical in nature since there was an ongoing electrical problem affecting power to the home involving  a sparking electrical wire, which she had previously reported to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL).