Bath Settlement house destroyed after fire from burning rubbish spreads

A wooden house at Water Street, Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, was destroyed on Sunday after a fire lit to burn rubbish spread to the building.

The occupant, 26-year-old Sharmila Bedessie, told reporters that she had set a pile of rubbish on fire at about 12:15 hours, a short distance from the house, before leaving to purchase food from a nearby shop.

While she was away, Bedessie said a resident alerted her that the house was on fire. She immediately returned but found the building engulfed in flames. She noted that she had finished cleaning the house only moments before the incident and had planned to move back into it.

The fire destroyed a quantity of household items, leaving her with significant losses.

“I feel really stressed out. When I saw the house on fire, I was frustrated and shaking. The Police came and arrest me, but after I explain that I didn’t intentionally burn down the house, they released me,” Bedessie said.

She maintained that the blaze was accidental and appealed for assistance from members of the public.

“I didn’t deliberately set the house on fire. It happened by mistake. I never expect the fire from the rubbish would spread to the house,” she added.

Divisional Fire Officer Clive McDonald said investigations revealed that radiated heat from the burning rubbish ignited the nearby wooden structure, resulting in the fire that destroyed the house.