Two families without shelter after Haslington blaze

A fireman dousing the last of the flames.
A fireman dousing the last of the flames.

A fire of unknown origin completely ravaged a two-storey Haslington North, East Coast Demerara home yesterday afternoon leaving two families homeless.

A fireman dousing the last of the flames.  According to 16-year-old Emanuel Vanburkly, he and his 14-year-old sister were home at the time of the incident. “I was on the veranda when she come screaming for me telling me that smoke coming from the downstairs front room,” The teen explained

The young man explained that he and his family shared the house with his aunt and uncle, Sarah and Dennis Edghill, and their children.

It was approximately 3 pm, he said, when they realized their house was on fire. The Edghills were not home and his father, he explained, was in Linden.

When Stabroek News arrived at the scene at about 3.45 pm the ranks of the Fire Service already had the blaze under control. However, virtually nothing was left undestroyed by the fire.

Several members of the community were standing in the hot afternoon sun looking on as the firemen did their work. One woman said that had the fire ranks responded in a more efficient manner then the fire would not have done as much damage.

The woman said that she was walking along the Haslington bus shed road when she saw smoke coming from the house. “De boy (Emanuel) was nervous,” the woman said, “you coulda tell from how he was behaving. He run in and out of the house several times.”

She went on to explain that she noticed the smoke shortly before 3 pm and realized that the house was on fire. An alarm was raised and the Fire Service informed. The woman pointed out a large group of people, who she said had formed a bucket brigade in an attempt to control the fire.

Shortly after this newspaper arrived at the scene, Dennis Edghill Sr appeared just in time to see what remained of his home after the fire was doused. The man’s expression clearly displayed his devastation.

The fire is another tragedy for the Edghill family. On Friday, February 15 Edghill’s 23-year-old son Dennis Edghill Jr was stabbed and subsequently died of his wounds when he attempted to stop a man from beating a woman.

When the man’s wife, Sarah, arrived at the scene she burst into tears. Edghill only said that he was not in a state of mind to say anything about the matter.

He added that he didn’t know anything either, since, he was at work when he received the news that his house was on fire. Dennis Jr. was a second year communication student at the University of Guyana. (Sara Bharrat)

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