Family of seven homeless after fire at Timehri Public Road
By Andre Haynes
Stabroek News
February 26, 2003
A family of seven has been left homeless and with only the clothes on their backs after their house was ravaged by fire of unknown origin on Sunday.
The Kaioum family of Timehri Public Road returned home after spending the day at Red Water Creek to discover firemen putting out the last of the flames which had engulfed their home and destroyed all of their property, totalling an estimated $7.6M.
The owner of the house Waheeda Kaioum could not say what might have caused the fire.
The 34-year-old mother of six related that she and her children had left home for the Creek at about 11:15 am. While making their way back home after 5 pm, they received a phone call from someone informing them that their house was burning down. Kaioum said she immediately called one of her neighbours who confirmed that her house was on fire.
By the time she arrived home, Kaioum said, firemen were putting out the last of the flames.
Kaioum said she could not understand how the fire could have started, adding that neighbours had said they did not notice the blaze until around 4 pm.
She however rejected any notion of the fire being of electrical origin as the area had a blackout since Saturday and power was not restored until 2 pm on Sunday, according to neighbours.
Kaioum added that by her neighbour's account the fire department responded late to the call and when the tender did arrive it was without water.
Neighbours told the woman that the firemen broke a main in front of her yard and also used water from a nearby trench to put out the blaze.
However, an official at the Timehri Fire Department told Stabroek News that the department was alerted at 5:15 pm on Sunday and arrived at the home some fifteen minutes afterwards.
"We received a late call and concerning the main which was broken, that was done by civilians..." he said.
The official further stated that neighbours had said that they initially believed that someone had been burning rubbish. Investigators are probing the incident to determine the cause of the fire.
Kaioum, a single parent after her husband died three years ago, had been living in the house for the past nine years. Not being the holder of any fire insurance she was devastated by the loss and is uncertain about her family's immediate living accommodation.
She and her children, the youngest of whom is two years old, have spent the nights since the fire sleeping in hammocks tied under a shed which is in front of her yard.
"Everything [is] gone," she lamented.
"Clothes for the children, they can't go to school. I had to call the school and tell them that my children couldn't come because they don't have any clothes to wear. My son is writing CXC, all his books are gone. I work to mine my children alone and now everything [is] gone."
Kaioum is willing to accept any assistance that members of the public can give her family and she can be contacted via telephone number 622-3677.
