Millions go up in flames after fire guts Ogle ECD home

A fire late Sunday evening has left millions in losses and several persons making alternative living arrangements after it swept through a building on Centre Road, Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD). The fire reportedly started at about 22:35h following a loud explosion. At the time, there was a power failure. The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) responding with three tenders and several firefighters, reportedly contained the blaze from spreading to nearby properties. A car wash and an auto body works shop were operated at the premises, thus leaving millions in losses not only to equipment but also to household items, as the owners were unable to salvage anything. At the scene on Sunday evening, the owner, Sheik Yesseen, told the media that he was at a nearby shop when he received news that his house was on fire. “I went to the cricket and when I came back, I went to the shop to get a pack of cigarettes, I had a beer with a friend and it was then I get a call from my neighbour saying my house on fire. I lost everything, everything,” the devasted man stated. He added that at the time of the blaze, his daughter-in-law was at home alone. She and his son occupied the lower flat of the building.

“My daughter-in-law alone went downstairs. The fire started upstairs in my apartment but I have no idea what started the fire… we had a couple of cars in the yard, I think they all were damaged. He added that the most important thing is that no lives were lost as a result of the inferno. “We can get back material things but not lives, so am happy that we haven’t experience that.”

However, his daughter-in-law, Zebina Yasseen, who escaped unhurt, related that she was asleep when she was alerted to the fire. “I was sleeping downstairs, all I hear was noise upstairs and when go to opened the door, I get a hard time by then the fire start spread and the beams start collapsing but I run outside. We didn’t get to save anything,” she added. Meanwhile, the owner could not say what started the fire, but he estimated his losses to be in the millions. The GFS has launched an investigation into the cause and origin of the devastating inferno.