A Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Georgetown woman was yesterday morning taken into police custody after she allegedly set her house on fire.
Sunday Stabroek understands that the fire occurred around 07.16 hrs at Lot 25 Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Georgetown.
The one-storey wooden and concrete building was owned by Aaron Watson, 39. He along with the arson suspect, Anita Graham, and three children lived in the house.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS), in a press release issued yesterday, said that the fire was maliciously set and that Graham was subsequently arrested. Up to yesterday afternoon, she was in police custody.
According to the GFS, three fire tenders — one from the West Ruimveldt fire station and two from the Central fire station — were dispatched to the location. Upon arrival, the GFS said the building was already engulfed in flames. Nothing was saved.
When Sunday Stabroek visited the scene yesterday morning, smoke was still emanating from the smouldering remains of the house.
Neighbours related that they noticed smoke coming from the house and they immediately called the GFS. “We just wake up and see smoke coming from the building and we call the fire service,” a woman, who wished not to be named, said.
The GFS reminded persons that there are harsh penalties for arson. It added that once identified, the perpetrator/s would face the full brunt of the law.
At the opening ceremony of the GFS Senior Officers conference on Thursday, Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn disclosed that the GFS has recorded a 22% reduction in fires over the past year.
A majority of the fires, Benn said, were maliciously set.
