The two-bedroom one-flat home of an elderly woman at Norton and Princes street was reduced to ashes yesterday around 15:15 hrs in a blaze, which, according to reports, started when a live wire caught a mattress in a bedroom.
Ninety-five-year-old Jane Rodney lived in the house at lot 24 Norton and Princes streets, Werk-en-Rust with her niece, Tomica Adams, 10, and her nephew Neville Lewis, 48.
When Stabroek News spoke to Rodney who was in a distraught with grief, she said that she was in her kitchen cooking when her niece, who was just home from school alerted her about the fire that was coming from her nephew’s room. She related that Adams pulled her out of the kitchen and rushed her through the nearest exit, the front door. She then realized that the fire had circled and was already in her bedroom.
However, the elderly woman lamented that the Guyana Fire Service was not prompt in responding to the fire, adding that when they finally showed up the fire had already taken over the entire house.
But some neighbours stated that although the fire truck showed up a bit late their efficiency in pumping water from a nearby trench helped to save other houses that were very close to the blaze.
Although a few neighbouring houses were a bit scorched and the yards became water-logged due to pipes being damaged by fallen debris, residents said they were grateful that the situation was not more serious.
Lewis, who also spoke to Stabroek News, said he was at work when he received a call that his home was on fire. He said he immediately rushed home where he saw the fire in full swing. He noted that it was a next door neighbour who summoned the fire service.
Seated in a Canter truck in the company of family members, neighbours and other curious onlookers who tried to comfort her, Rodney related how shocked she was at the incident.
She said she had no a clue how the fire could have started but added that she was unable to save anything but “myself, thank God,” although the family-owned property that she lived in for more than 30 years is now ashes.
“Is a shame to see the house go down in flames,” another family member said.
Rodney was taken to the hospital for a checkup for smoke inhalation, while relatives assured her that she would have a place to stay until they can get her comfortably relocated.
In the meantime, Guyana Power and Light electricians were also at the scene because of live wires that were exposed as a result of the fire. (Ayanna Blair)
