Fire guts Da Silva’s House of Optics

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:01 by GxMedia

A Sunday afternoon fire has gutted Da Silva’s House of Optics, one of the oldest wooden buildings in the city.

The fire began around 1 PM at the Middle Street, Georgetown location which is used as both a business and place of residence.

Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves) understands that two women and a one year old child were asleep in the upper flat of the building and were awoken by smoke. 

A relative, Brandon Milner, said he was told by one of the women that the fire started at an air conditioning unit.  Items saved included computers, electrical components and two vehicles.

Fire Chief Marlon Gentle said they received the first call about smoke emanating from the building around 1:15 PM.  Fire fighters from Alberttown and Central Fire Station were the first to respond to the report. 

While he could not say what caused the fire, he said it appeared to have originated from the top flat of the building located two doors west of the main Modern Optical service. Gentle added that there was severe internal damage on the upper floor and water damage in the bottom flat. Former City Engineer, Lloyd Alleyne, who was on the scene, said the colonial styled structure was one of the oldest pitch pine buildings in Georgetown. Meanwhile, at least one person was taken into custody for allegedly looting an undisclosed sum of cash from the building under the guise of trying to save items.