Fire destroys Punt Trench house, damages another

A house was completely destroyed by fire while another was badly damaged yesterday and residents believe that had the response by the fire service been more timely the fire could have been contained to only one flat.

When residents realised that a fire had broken out they rushed to assist the owners to save some of their furniture. (Tarick Pertab photo)

The house of Paul and Sheila Hubbert of 21 Punt Trench and Hill Street, Albouystown went up in flames some time around 2pm and the couple were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital after they sustained injuries in their haste to escape the fire.

When Stabroek News arrived at the scene around 2.40pm, a large crowd had gathered, and furniture and other appliances were in the road. The street was barricaded and three fire engines were at the site, one a house away and two further up where they were pumping water from the Sussex Street Canal.

The fire had already consumed the entire upper storey of the Hubbert building which was of wood, and was still flaming in the bottom flat which was concrete.

Fire-fighters had contained the blaze but it had already done serious damage to the house next door. As they worked to put the blaze out, Dennis Beckles, the Hubberts’ nephew who lived with them, said that he was in his room when he heard Paul Hubbert shouting, “Fire, fire!”

As the upper flat of this Albouystown building caves in the flames catch the house next to it yesterday. (Tarick Pertab photo)

According to Beckles, his uncle was cooking in the kitchen which is located upstairs. He suspected the fire may have had its origins in the kerosene stove “flaring up.” He said that they had no chance to save anything because the flames began to spread so quickly.

Beckles said that when he went to investigate after hearing the cries of his uncle, the fire was on the floor and they had to jump through the window where they were caught by residents. Beckles’ left shoulder was blistered by the heat.

His aunt and uncle were taken to the hospital. Paul Hubbert, 58, injured his foot and leg when jumping out of the window and his wife, 57, sustained burns to her back and left arm.

However Paul contradicted his nephew’s story of how the fire started. He told a Stabroek News’ reporter at the hospital that he did not know how the fire started; “All I see is black,” he said.

Hubbert said that he had tried kicking down the grill door but it didn’t work so they jumped through the window. He added that he jumped first followed by his wife and nephew. He went first to so he could catch his wife, who is mute.

Five persons are said to be sharing the house, including a baby and a little girl who were not at home at the time.

Meanwhile at the scene of the fire, Bibi Farida who gave her address as 21 Independence Boulevard was in tears as she watched the fire-fighters battle the blaze. She said that she was renting an apartment in that house and shared it with three other persons.

Also left to contemplate where she will be spending the night is Nelita Gravesande and Natasha Williams who also have apartments in the building where Farida lives. Gravesande was unsure if anything was saved. She said she was asleep at the time when she heard ‘fire,’ and she immediately got up and ran out of the building with her three young children.

Williams was too distraught to speak. She just asked where she would be spending the night. She was at work when she got news of the fire and came to find her place destroyed.

Some ten persons are said to be living in the building next to the Hubbert’s. It was said to be divided into four apartments.

Meanwhile the fire service came under heavy criticism for their response to the fire. According to Heston Bostwick who says he is the community leader in Albouystown, the fire engine from the West Ruimveldt station was the first to respond but they did not have water and neglected his advice to get the water from Sussex Street Canal.

Bostwick also was of the opinion that the damage could have been less had the fire service listened to his advice. He said he had to call Station Officer Compton Sparman; “If Sparman wasn’t here the fire would have been worse,” he said.

Hubbert, who said he had been living at the Punt Trench address for 20 years, was very “upset” with the fire service. He told Stabroek News that the fire truck arrived some half an hour after the fire began, and when they did arrive he too said they did not have enough water and the drains were blocked.

Farida was another victim who was critical of the fire service response since she believed that had they arrived earlier then her building in Independence Boulevard would have been saved. She repeated the complaints others had made that the engines “took a while” coming to the fire and “like they come without water.”

Fire Chief Marlon Gentle said last evening that the criticisms levelled against the fire-fighters were unjust.  Based on the circumstances of the fire, he said, certain tactical decisions had to be made.

Gentle told reporters at the scene of a second fire at the Drop-in Centre in Hadfield Street, that after the fire service received a call two tenders were dispatched. According to him, one fire tender went to Sussex Street and the other went to the scene of the fire.  He said when the fire fighters arrived, the main building was already engulfed in flames and that the immediate aim was containment and not extinguishing the blaze. The circumstances of the fire, he said, required more water than the tenders would have been able to carry, and the humidity and strong winds did not make the job of the fire-fighters any easier.

The Fire Chief went on to tell this newspaper that prior to the blaze some of the fire tenders had been occupied in fighting wild fires.

However, a government official who was on the scene of the blaze refuted what the Fire Chief said.  His view was that had there been an adequate supply of water the second building would not have been damaged, despite the fact that it was an old building.  The official told this newspaper that it took a while for the fire-fighters to apply a constant flow of water to the flames, and it was only at 2.50 pm that this was satisfactorily achieved.  He commented that efforts by the fire-fighters before this time were not up to scratch.

It is believed that some 17 persons are now homeless while three are hospitalised. It is uncertain what the cost of the damage is.