Four persons, including an elderly woman, lost their Canal Number Two Polder home to fire on Thursday evening.
Mariam Singh, 81, her grand-daughter Shridevi Rajbar and her two children, ages one and eleven, occupied the house, which is believed to have been destroyed by an electrical fire.
The celebration of festival of lights turned into mourning at 7pm on Thursday, when young men in the community spotted thick smoke coming from the upper flat of Singh’s home and called out to the occupants.
An emotional Singh said that she was in a hammock on the lower flat of the two-storey building, when she heard shouts of from neighbours that the house was on fire. “I try to run upstairs and save me money ($32,000),” she said, but that plan was thwarted after Rajbar held on to her and led her to safety.
All they managed to save were the clothes on their backs.
Although the fire tender summoned from Georgetown arrived when the building had already burnt to the ground, residents praised their efforts in ensuring that a neighbouring house on the west was not engulfed as well. West Bank fire fighters raced to the scene, said one resident, but after their engine malfunctioned the fire, stoked by the breeze, took full effect and claimed the mostly wooden building.
It was the bucket brigade that reduced the chances of the house west of Singh’s home from being ravished by fire.
When asked whether lit diyas might have caused the fire, Singh dismissed that suggestion and stated that all her diyas were placed in front of her lawn.
The elderly woman said that she suspects that the fire might have been electrical in origin.
An estimate could not be given, but Singh said all that she owned went up in flames.
She is now residing at her son’s residence at Wales.
Meanwhile Rajbar and her children are staying at another relative.
Anyone who wishes to assist the family can contact them on 660-0089.
The Guyana Fire Service is currently conducting an investigation to determine the nature of the fire.
