2-year-old playing with matches suspected cause of West Berbice fire that left five homeless

A family of five has been left homeless after a fire, believed to have been accidentally started by a two-year-old child playing with matches, destroyed their two-storey home at Plantation Hope, West Coast Berbice, on Thursday morning.

The blaze completely gutted the wooden and concrete house at Lot 127, reducing years of hard work to ashes and leaving the family with virtually nothing.

Twenty-year-old Bib Wahab told the News Room that at around 10:00 hrs, she and her young son were the only people at home when the fire broke out. She said she had gone downstairs to take a bath, leaving the child upstairs for only a few minutes.

According to Wahab, her son suddenly called out to her. When she went to check, she was met by flames rapidly spreading through the house.

Acting quickly, she grabbed the toddler and escaped to safety before the fire intensified.

Residents rushed to the family’s aid and tried to contain the blaze, but their efforts were unsuccessful as the flames quickly engulfed the building.

“I don’t know how it happened. I don’t know how the fire start. It didn’t take me three minutes after going downstairs to bathe before the fire started,” Wahab said.

She explained that her husband, along with her mother-in-law and father-in-law, were away from home at the time.

Wahab, her husband and their son occupied the upper flat of the house, while her in-laws lived on the ground floor.

Fighting back tears, Wahab said the loss has been devastating.

“It’s very hard to go back and start over because me and my husband work very hard for everything we had,” she said.

Homeowner Jasode Wahab said the fire destroyed all of the family’s belongings, including furniture, household appliances, clothing and other personal items on both floors of the house.

Now homeless, the family is appealing to the public for assistance as they begin the difficult task of rebuilding.

“We are asking anyone who wants to help us. We are willing to accept any assistance so that we can move forward,” Jasode said.

She noted that the family has not yet been able to estimate the full extent of the losses.

Divisional Fire Officer Clive McDonald said preliminary investigations suggest the fire may have started after the two-year-old child was reportedly playing with matches inside the house.

Investigations into the cause of the fire are continuing.