Ten homeless in Peter’s Hall fire

Approximately ten persons are homeless after a fire completely destroyed a two-storey wooden house at Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara (EBD) and damaged an apartment building Sunday night.

The fire started at about 20:00hrs at Lot 28 School Street, Peter’s Hall before engulfing the apartment building at Lot 29.

Sixty-year-old Omardai Persaud lived in the wooden house with her 62-year-old sister Deocali Persaud, her 79-year-old mother who the owner of the house Liloutie Persaud and her aunt 65-year-old Kalawati Boodram and two nephews.

Liloutie had to rescued from the burning house because she is wheelchair bound.

The News Room first reported that a lighted Diya may have caused the fire but Omardai said the fire started from the electrical meter at the back of the house.

“The fire start from the meter, the meter sparking sparking,” the now distraught Omardai told the News Room.

“I could’ve get roast up in the house,” she added.

Her sister, Deocali said the meter has been sparking for a number of days but she is unsure whether any family member reported it to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc.

According to Deocali, the fire tenders arrived at the scene without water to extinguish the huge inferno.

Meanwhile, the apartment building is owned by an overseas-based Guyanese who rented it to a Berbice resident and three students from Linden; none of them were at home at the time of the fire.

Another resident who lives next door said her house became heated as a result of the fire. To save her house, the woman said she along with others began to throw water on a tree which is located between her house and the burning buildings.