An elderly man is now in Police custody after he started a fire at a landfill next his home at Better Hope on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), causing not only damage to his neighbour’s property but major disturbances in the area, including traffic delays.
The fire was started on Friday night and continued over the weekend, almost destroying a neighbour’s house. The man, whose name was given as Raymond Ally, said that he started the fire to get rid of bees.
Firefighters were summoned Monday after the fire erupted again at the landfill.
The neighbour, Roseann Norian of Lot 7 Railway Line, Better Hope, said on Saturday morning, the landfill began to smoke heavily even though the fire was not visible.
“We start calling the fire service; they come like five times to put it out but there was still a fire. Last night [Sunday] we called the fire service and they said they can’t be wasting their time and they put down the phone.
“This morning [Monday] when I called them at 7 o Clock they did not come. My neighbours called and curse them out. When they came, the truck didn’t have water; they had to get water from a trench nearby.”
The mother of two said her children were severely affected by the smoke.
She said at this point she is unable to say how much damage the fire caused to her property.
When News Room visited the scene, firefighters were still trying to control the fire to just that area.
The owner of the property remains in police custody assisting with investigations.
