Home destroyed in Eccles blaze

Mere days before Christmas, a family of four was Sunday forced to watch their Eccles East Bank Demerara (EBD) home destroyed by fire. Just before 09:00Hrs residents of the area recalled seeing thick black smoke in the sky. They reportedly ventured out to investigate and soon realized that the two-storey concrete home at 94CC Eccles, occupied by a Mr. Samuel Ward, along with his wife and two children, was being consumed by fire. Kaieteur was told that it is suspected that the fire might have been of electrical origin since it reportedly started from a breaker. According to eyewitnesses, the fire began to spread quickly and the couple could not do much but grab their children and escape. The Fire Service was summoned and while the fire trucks were on its way, nieghbours reportedly tried to contain the blaze but the entire top flat became engulfed in flames. In a video seen by this media house, a crackling noise could be heard just before the ceiling collapsed.

Firemen arrived shortly after and began their work. Within a few minutes they were able to control the blaze and prevented it from spreading to nearby buildings. About an hour later the fire was almost extinguished. This paper understands that Ward, his wife and two young children – aged two years, and 8 months – had moved to the area a little over a year ago. Ward, residents said, was not the owner of the property.

(Kaieteur News)