Family jumps from veranda to escape early morning fire

A family jumped to safety from their veranda when a fire of unknown origin destroyed their Cove and John, East Coast Demerara house last Saturday.

The family of six is now staying with a relative and they are seeking the public’s assistance to rebuild their two-storey house.

Lalita Singh and her family were fast asleep on Saturday morning when a fire started at about 01:00 hrs. She was the first to wake up as a result of the smoke.

When the 20-year-old inspected the source, she realised the house was in flames.

“I thought somebody burning something and I didn’t take it for nothing and I lay down back. Then I see black smoke and in my room I see a red thing; when I get up and I watch properly, I see is the fire in we house,” Lalita told the News Room on Thursday.

She alerted her sister Youlita, their mother Endriwantie and father, Harrypaul who were home and they started looking for a way out of the house.

The family tried to escape through the main door at the side of the house but it would not open; they eventually escaped by jumping off the veranda at the front of the house.

Lalita, her father and her mother were injured due to the fall. Lalita has an injury to the head; her mother injured her shoulder and hip and the father suffered bruises on the body.

Harrypaul said he desperately tried to save his house, noting that by the time the Fire Service arrived, the house was already destroyed.  The family said they are lucky that the eldest daughter and her baby were not home that dreadful morning.

The cause of the fire is unknown and the family said the kerosene stove which they mostly use was not in the house at the time.

Lalita explained that she had cleaned the stove that day.

“It really tough cause we weren’t expecting this,” Youlita, 17, said as she cried.

She added, “mostly in the daytime we come here and we come to see who come to help and sometimes we clean up and then in the night, we go by my brother to sleep but my brother’s place is so small, we have to take turns to sleep.”

The young women said they are devastated because their parents worked very hard to build the house.

Because the family’s clothes were destroyed, they haven’t been able to return to their individual jobs.

The family is seeking assistance to restart building the house. Persons can contact them on telephone number 618-6617 or visit them at their destroyed home at Cove and John.