A two-storey wooden and concrete house at 740 Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, Berbice was damaged by a fire suspected to be malicious during the early hours of Monday morning.
The blaze destroyed the furniture in the bottom flat of the home, which was constructed of concrete. The upper flat, however, was not affected by the fire but was reportedly ransacked, with several rooms left in disarray.
At the time of the incident, no one was at home.
Speaking with Ignite News, Annie Morris said the house belonged to her cousin, Donette, and that she would usually oversee the property. Morris said she was awakened around 3:30 a.m. with the alarming news that the house was on fire.
“My cousin’s daughter is staying with me, so she wake me up and tells me that their house is on fire. Her friend called Donna’s daughter and told her that their house was on fire, so we rushed down,” Morris said.
She said when they arrived at the scene, firefighters, police officers, Guyana Power and Light (GPL) employees, and several spectators were already present.
“When we came down, the fire was already dealt with,” she explained.
Morris said after the fire was extinguished, she was taken upstairs, where she discovered that the upper flat had been in disarray.
“It was ransacked. Her bedroom, the second room, the other room, all three rooms were ransacked,” she said.
She added that items were taken from the kitchen cupboards and refrigerator, including alcohol and sweets.
“It was very devastating because I only went here the day before to clean, and to come back to know those kinds of things happened,” Morris said.
Morris also claimed that footage from a security camera showed a person climbing from the bottom patio to the upper patio of the building before entering the house.
“The video showed that the guy climbed up from the bottom patio to go up on the top patio, but he was showing signals to the neighbour, and you can see he was getting instructions on what to do from the neighbour,” she alleged.
According to Morris, the individual gained entry through a window in one of the middle rooms before moving upstairs through the front door.
She is hoping that investigators can quickly identify those responsible.
“We are hoping for a swift investigation and that the person who did it, he didn’t do it alone. He got instructions, so if we get him, he will be able to say who sent him to do that,” Morris said.
Police and fire officials are expected to continue investigations into the circumstances surrounding the blaze.
