Thirteen persons are now homeless after an afternoon fire razed two houses in the vicinity of Hadfield Street and Louisa Row yesterday.
When Stabroek News arrived on the scene, fire-fighters had already contained the fire which had already destroyed the two wooden buildings and scorched two others.
As a precaution, occupants of the house at the front of the lot had already begun removing furniture and other household items even as the firemen continued to douse the burnt buildings.
Meanwhile, though investigations are being conducted to determine the cause of the fire, the occupants are at a loss at what could have caused the blaze.
Patrick Hall, an occupant of the house at 69 Hadfield Street, which was completely destroyed said he shared the home with his sister and her eight children, the youngest being a baby.
Hall told Stabroek News that no one was in the house at the time of the fire and that it was only when he turned the corner and saw the smoke that he considered the possibility of the house being on fire.
“I does work taxi and is coming I de coming home when I see the smoke and I telling the people them that `that got to be by me’ and when I turn the corner there I see the fire. I park the car and run and see what was happening,” the man shared.
According to the man, the fact that no one was at home at the time resulted in the family not being able to save anything. He could not estimate his total losses.
Around the corner from the first house, the situation was just as grim, as most of the belongings of a mother and her two daughters were destroyed as the fire from the house next door partially engulfed their residence.
One of the daughters, Ashley (only name given) said they were at home when the fire started just after 5 pm yesterday.
“Because we are really close to the other house we got caught,” the woman said as she fought back tears.
Based on observations made, it would seem that the western wall of the building had been engulfed which led to an almost complete destruction of the building.
Also on the scene of the fire was Mayor of Georgetown Patricia Chase-Green who offered her support to the family.
Meanwhile, Divisional Officer of Operations, Gregory Wickham said in addition to the two buildings that have been destroyed another two were slightly scorched as a result of the fire.
He further noted that while investigations have been undertaken to determine the cause of the fire, they were able to establish that it began in the house occupied by Hall and his relatives.
Residents who had converged on the corner of Hadfield St and Louisa Row offered praised for the swift action taken by the firemen as one woman remarked, “Sometime the firemen does be wrong but not this time. They were right this time and they managed to save the rest of the houses.”
“If it wasn’t for them the entire lot woulda burn down,” she added.
