A fire yesterday destroyed a dressing room at the Shaheed’s Girls Orphanage in Oleander Gardens, East Coast Demerara.
Another fire in Novem-ber, 2018 had destroyed the building and it was rebuilt.
Sharia Bacchus, a member of the board of directors for the home, during an interview yesterday with Stabroek News, stated that the fire was confirmed by the Guyana Fire Service as being electrical in origin. The fire started in a dressing room located on the upper flat of the building at about 11:10 am.
Bacchus stated that while sewing was ongoing at the bottom flat of the home, three girls who were headed upstairs discovered the fire. Stabroek News was informed that the children immediately informed the caregivers who rushed the girls out of the home and to safety. While it was a scary experience, no one was hurt. Fire tenders arrived shortly after on the scene and fire-fighters were able to contain the fire. When Stabroek News arrived at the scene of the fire, the fire-fighters were engaged in mopping up operations, while the girls were together with a caregiver seated under a shed. The inside of the home was waterlogged.
Bacchus told this newspaper that the girls are now being temporarily housed at the Shaheed’s Boys Orphanage located in Kitty while things are sorted out and power is restored at the home. She said that once given clearance from the Fire Service, she will act immediately. Bacchus further shared that as a result of the closet being burnt, the girls lost all of their clothing. The home presently houses twenty-eight girls ranging in age from three to eighteen and two caregivers.
Meanwhile, in light of the fire which gutted the home in 2018, displacing 18 girls and causing millions in losses, Bacchus stated that Raheema Rahaman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is engaged in monitoring the girls, having discussions with them as well as securing fire extinguishers in the home. The 2018 fire started about 6 am on the upper flat and within minutes had ripped through the two-storey wooden and concrete structure. No injuries were reported as the caretaker and all the girls managed to get to safety. It was determined that that fire was deliberately set. In April of 2019, a new building was commissioned.
