Fire guts Brahma Kumaris centre

Two members of the Brahma Kumaris faith escaped unhurt yesterday after a fire of unknown origin gutted the Raja Yoga Centre at Kingston, Georgetown.

The fire started around 4.20 am and ripped through the twostorey Lot 75 High Street, Kingston, Georgetown building within minutes.

It is suspected the fire started in a bedroom of the upper flat of the building.

At the time, two members, Parbattie Singh and Sister Usha, were the only persons in the building. They managed to escape unhurt.

A security guard, identified only as “Narine,” was on duty in the yard at the time.

A quick response from the Guyana Fire Service prevented the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.

The building is situated obliquely opposite the headquarters of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). On the northern side is a recently constructed structure, which is being occupied by the European Union Observer Mission.

Fire Chief Marlon Gentle yesterday told Stabroek News that the Guyana Fire Service was summoned around 4.34 am. As a result, he said, four fire tenders were dispatched. “When we got there, the entire top flat was engulfed. But we managed to contain the fire,” Gentle said.

Up to yesterday afternoon, Gentle said the cause of the fire remains unknown. “We are investigating. We are getting some sketchy reports that there might have been two persons in the building at the time. We are trying to locate them,” Gentle noted.

Meanwhile, Singh explained to Stabroek News that she and Sister Usha were meditating when the lights “cut off.”

“…Both of us were meditating and then the lights cut off from our meditation place,” she said.

As a result, they immediately got up and Sister Usha went into her bedroom, while Singh journeyed to the lower flat of the building.

“…We get up and when we get up to go downstairs and she (Usha) head to her bedroom, all wah we hear is something sparking like,” she added.

Singh further explained that she reached out for the keys to the building to give to the guards so he could unlock the doors from outside.

She said she usually has a backpack with belongings which she uses to travel to and from the centre and that was the only thing she managed to save.

“Like I can’t tell you what go on at that moment. I head to the downstairs and I look for the keys. I got the keys to give Narine (guard) to open the doors like from front….and all wah me coulda do, I had a bag….all wah me coulda do, I grab the bag,” Singh said. “If you see fire…me skin trembling till now,” she added.