Man displayed unusual behaviour before Sophia fire – family recounts

Relatives of a man now at the center of an investigation into a devastating fire in North Sophia on Sunday say they are still struggling to understand what happened, describing his behaviour in the hours before the blaze as unusual and deeply concerning.

The fire, which occurred at Lot 10 North Sophia, Georgetown, destroyed three buildings and left seven people homeless, including Maurica Wellington, her three children, her brother Robert Wellington, his partner and the man under investigation.

The Guyana Fire Service has since indicated that preliminary findings suggest the fire was maliciously set, originating from a motorcycle before spreading to nearby structures.

According to the Fire Service, firefighters responded promptly, deploying three water tenders to bring the blaze under control while also carrying out firefighting, rescue and recovery operations. One motorcycle was completely destroyed in the fire.

Speaking to the News Room, Maurica Wellington said her cousin appeared visibly unwell shortly before the incident, noting that his behaviour was out of character.

“My cousin wasn’t he self. I ask he wah happen to he … he seh he ain’t feeling he self,” she recalled, adding that she encouraged him to rest.

She said she later went to bathe and lie down, only to receive multiple calls informing her that their home was on fire.

“I get a few calls and I hear the house burn down… when I meet everything done with,” she said.

The fire, she added, wiped out all the belongings she had carefully gathered to support her children.

“I had everything just to make me children comfortable,” she said, becoming emotional.

Now displaced, the family is relying on relatives for temporary shelter. “Some just give up they room just for me to be there for sometime. I have nowhere to go right now,” she added.

Maurica also said her children have been directly affected by the tragedy, particularly as they are currently sitting examinations and are now unable to attend school.

Despite the circumstances, she described the suspect as a generally kind and respectful person, saying the incident has left the family in shock.

“This person is a very loving person, he very polite and everything. Everybody left in shock because this is not the type of person he is,” she said.

She added that she believes he would be devastated if he fully understood the outcome of what occurred.

“I know to me self if he do catch back he self and someone bring him and show him what he did, he would left traumatised cause he is not that type of person,” she said.

Her brother, Robert Wellington, also recalled what he described as unusual behaviour in the hours leading up to the fire.

He said he was in Tuschen visiting relatives when he received a call from a neighbour alerting him that his cousin’s motorcycle was on fire and that the house was also burning.

“I got a call from my neighbour saying my cousin bike catch afire… she seh the house catching fire too. She said come now,” he said.

“When I drive going…I see a lot of people throwing water etc,” he added.

Robert also said the suspect had complained of pain the day before the fire and appeared emotionally distressed, prompting plans to take him to hospital.

“When I wake up, looking for he, he done disappear already,” he said.

He further noted that the man had been moving in and out on a motorcycle several times during Saturday night.

Recounting a moment that unsettled him, Robert said: “I tell me girl I coming back to carry them over the river. When I come now he come and he seh ‘budday you cousin ain’t want come outside because he ain’t want nothing happen to me.’ I start get lil frighten because I never see he that way.”

The Guyana Fire Service has confirmed that investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.