‘Slack wire’ connection destroys Corentyne house, 14 homeless

A Corentyne family of 14 is now homeless after their dwelling house was completely destroyed by a fire on Friday.

The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) noted on Saturday that “a slack connection of overhead wires resulting in arcing and sparking” caused the fire.

According to the press release, the sparks caught a window curtain and quickly spread throughout the two-story wooden and concrete house.

The house was owned by Kulcharran Persaud who lived with his family of 13. According to the fire service, it received a report of the fire at Lot 56 Number 79 Village Corentyne, Berbice at 12:45hrs.

“One jet working from Water Tender 87 tank supply and two jets working from an open water source using light pump 109 was used to extinguish the fire,” the GFS said in its report.

The GFS refuted claims in other sections of the media which suggested it was ill-equipped to handle the fire and had to resort to using “water from the river”.

“On arrival at the scene, one jet from Water Tender 87 original tank supply was employed to contain the blaze while firefighters sought an open water source.

“The Corentyne River was used as the open water source and two jets connected to light pump 107 were used to extinguish the fire,” the GFS explained.