Martha Espino was in the shower when she first heard the warning. Her phone rang, jolting her from the steam and routine of the evening.
“It was my husband,” Espino, a Dominican Republic national, recalled. “He told me there was a fire.”
By the time she scrambled to get out, the flames were already spreading through the wooden and concrete structure she shared with multiple families on Fifth Street, Alberttown.
“I tried to grab a few things, but everything was happening so fast,” she said. “I had to run out with nothing but the clothes on my back.”
The massive fire, which erupted around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, tore through the residential building within minutes. Families from Guyana, Cuba, Trinidad, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic were forced to flee, some barely escaping the thick smoke and flames.
Despite the chaos, no injuries were reported. Firefighters from the Guyana Fire Service responded with several water tenders and brought the blaze under control, preventing it from spreading to neighboring buildings in the densely populated community.
Espino said she briefly considered returning to the burning building to salvage her belongings, but the fire’s intensity made it impossible.
“I saw how big the fire was and realised it was more than I could handle,” she said. “I lost my passport, my clothes, everything I had inside there.”
A concerned Guyanese citizen stepped in to cover temporary accommodation for Espino and her family at a nearby hotel for three days, but that support ends tonight. Now facing uncertainty, she is appealing to the public for help.
“Right now we don’t have anything,” she said. “If anyone wants to help, they can contact me.” Espino can be reached at 761-5357.
Authorities confirmed that investigations are ongoing as the Guyana Fire Service works to determine the cause of the blaze that left dozens of residents homeless.
