A Corentyne rice farmer returned home on Tuesday afternoon to find his Alness Village house reduced to ashes after a fire swept through the property, leaving six family members homeless.
The homeowner, Vishnu Ganpat, said he was working in his rice fields, located more than four miles from his residence at Lot 45 Alness Village, when he received a telephone call informing him that his house was on fire.
By the time he arrived, firefighters had already extinguished the blaze. However, the family’s four-bedroom wooden and concrete house had been completely destroyed.
“Right now I am going into the crop and I don’t even have a cent left because everything burn. Nothing was saved. I feel heartbroken for losing everything. Thank God I came home and found my family alive,” Ganpat said as he fought back tears.
His wife, Gumattie Desa, said she was preparing lunch at about 3:30 p.m. when someone alerted her that sparks were coming from the upper section of the house.
She recalled rushing outside and seeing flames coming from one of the front bedrooms. She immediately called on her son to switch off the main electrical supply, but the fire spread so quickly that he was unable to get close enough to reach the switch. Within minutes, the blaze had engulfed the entire building.
At the time of the fire, the house was occupied by the couple’s 21-year-old daughter, two sons aged 21 and 16, and their 13-month-old grandchild.
Although all of the occupants escaped without injury, the family lost all of their furniture, appliances, clothing, and other household belongings.
Firefighters from the Guyana Fire Service responded after receiving reports of the blaze, while residents gathered outside as flames consumed the home.
The displaced family is now staying with relatives as they seek to rebuild their lives.Divisional Fire Officer Clive McDonald said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
