Update: Over a dozen homeless in Plaisance fire

Approximately 15 persons are now homeless after a fire ravaged an apartment complex and a duplex in Plaisance, East Coast Demerara (ECD) this afternoon.

When News Room arrived at the scene, the blaze had also destroyed an unoccupied building and it was threatening a fourth house.

Eyewitnesses told News Room that the fire appeared to have started inside the apartment complex known as the “Abiola Hotel” which is owned by the Cummings.

Sherline Cummings, one of the owners, told the media that about ten families resided in the hotel permanently.

The duplex, which is located in the same compound and also owned by the Cummings, was reportedly home to two families.

Eyewitnesses complained that the Fire Service arrived on the scene too late and as such, residents began to help put out the blaze using buckets of water.

Even when the Fire Service arrived, the residents continued to render assistance with buckets of water. There were no reported injuries.

Rowena Glasgow, an occupant of the Abiola Hotel, told News Room that she was on her way to the Mashramani celebrations in Georgetown when she received a telephone call from her daughter about the fire.

The distraught woman said she is unsure how she will go on with her life as all her belongings were destroyed in the blaze.