A 55-year-old woman is counting her blessings after narrowly escaping a fire that destroyed the upper flat of a two-storey house at Lot 1 Edinburgh Village, East Bank Berbice, on Monday.
Zalema Ally, who has been occupying the upper flat of the building for more than 10 years, recalled being awakened by unusual noises before discovering that thick smoke was filling the house.
“I was in bed when I started hearing noises. Before I could get out of bed, I saw smoke. I rushed to the kitchen to check if anything was happening upstairs, but it wasn’t. The smoke was coming from downstairs,” she said.
She quickly got dressed and attempted to leave the house as the smoke intensified.
“By the time I ran downstairs, the fire had already become heavy. The fire started from there,” she recalled.
The lower apartment had been occupied by a female tenant for approximately four years, however, she was not at home when the fire broke out.
Ally said she had detected a slight burning smell earlier but assumed it was someone burning garbage nearby and did not suspect a fire inside the building.
As neighbours began shouting and pounding on the house to alert the occupants, she rushed outside without being able to save any of her belongings.
“I started screaming and crying. Everything happened so fast. I even tried to run back upstairs for my car keys, but the neighbours stopped me. By that time, neighbours came together and pulled the car out,” she said.
Residents worked together to move her vehicle to safety while preventing her from re-entering the burning building.
The longtime tenant described the ordeal as the most frightening experience of her life.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” she said.
Although grateful to have escaped unharmed, Ally said the financial loss is devastating.
“My home was well furnished. I lost clothing, documents, cash, drawers, windows, and so much more,” she explained, adding that the upper flat contained four bedrooms.
She noted that she had informed fire officials that the blaze appeared to have originated in the downstairs apartment and said several residents recorded videos that may assist investigators.
The Guyana Fire Service responded to the scene and managed to extinguish the blaze. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and investigations are ongoing.
