Seven homeless in Essequibo Coast fire

Last Updated on Wednesday, 6 September 2023, 16:24 by Denis Chabrol

The remains of the house at Lake Mainstay village, Essequibo Coast.

Fire of unknown on Wednesday morning rendered seven persons homeless at Lake Mainstay village, Essequibo Coast, the Guyana Police Force said.

The one-storey house, which was built by the non-governmental charitable organisation, Food For The Poor,  13 years ago, was owned and occupied by Sherwin De Young and his wife, Anice De Young, and their five children, ages ten, eight, five, three and one-year-old.

Investigators were informed that Mr. De Young was at work and two of his children were at school. According to Mrs De Young, a housewife, she was working at the back of the yard while three of her children were in the dining area when one of her daughters ran out and shouted: “Mom, smoke in the house”.

Upon checking, police stated that the woman said she noticed the fire had already caught on the house from the northern side, and so she immediately picked up her three children and ran. An alarm was raised, and villagers ran to her rescue.

Before fire fighters arrived on the scene the blaze was extinguished but the building, along with household appliances and belongings, was destroyed. “However, due to the distance between the fire station and the location, by the time the fire was extinguished, the one-flat wooden building was destroyed, leaving seven persons homeless,” the Guyana Fire Service said in a separate statement.