| By Sharmain CornetteThey were able to escape with merely the clothes on their backs and the keys to their cars before a massive conflagration gutted their home and place of business, nonetheless the Mahadeos of La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara, are grateful to God for sparing their lives.The Mahadeos had already retired to bed Wednesday night when a mysterious caller informed their security guard that there was a fire at the back of the building.The security guard in turn informed patriarch of the home,Blank Jersey, Mr Sham Mahadeo, of the situation that his home and business place,Josh Perkins Jersey, ND&S Furniture Store, located at Lot 40 B and C Gap Road, La Jalousie,West Coast Demerara, was on fire.When this newspaper visited the scene early yesterday morning the man and his family were being comforted and supported by residents who had hours earlier offered their assistance to help save the three-flat building and an adjoining furniture factory.Efforts by this newspaper to solicit a comment from Sham Mahadeo were nearly futile as the man seemed more concerned about the 52 staffers employed at his factory and furniture store who are now out of jobs.“I am studying my staff…this situation is really terrible,” said the distraught proprietor.However, the man is confident that he will be getting back on his feet soon.“I will not be giving up on this,” said Sham Mahadeo of his more than 16-year-old business and main source of income. The family’s loss is estimated to be in the tens of millions.The man’s youngest daughter, Sasha Mahadeo, related that it was her father who had accepted the telephone call some time after 23:00 hours Wednesday that served to alert the household, which comprises her parents, herself and grandfather, of the fire. “He was the one that woke us up.We were all asleep on the third floor. I don’t even know exactly who called but my father was alert and vigilant and that is what saved us,” said a grateful Sasha.She disclosed that she helped her mother and aged grandfather,Belgium Soccer Jerseys, who appeared terribly confused at the time, out of the house which was already engulfed with intense smoke. She suspects that the fire started at the back of the bottom flat of the building.After seeing her father exit the house, Sasha said that she jumped into her car and raced to the Dem Amstel Police Station, a short distance away.“Even before I reached into the Police Station I started telling them that our home was on fire. They called the Leonora Fire Brigade,” she recounted.The young woman said that she ferried two officers back to the home, and they secured the scene. It was not until about 40 minutes later that a fire engine arrived.By this time, Sasha said, the fire had already spread to the second floor of the building in which they resided and which also housed the furniture store and a showroom.However, some residents had helped to remove to safety some of the furniture that was on display in the bottom flat of the business. Some business documents were also salvaged.According to Sasha Mahadeo,Maglia Inter Ranocchia, the fire officers were not able to do much as the limited water they arrived with was soon depleted.They subsequently attempted to source water from a nearby trench.“I am not trained, but even I know that they could have gotten the required water from the seawall which is a larger body of water.And then another fire tender from Georgetown arrived with no water to help quell the blaze,” said the despondent young woman.She lamented the fact that she was asked sarcastically by some of the firemen “if I was a member of the brigade or if I wanted to join them.Even people trying to help were told to go home and sleep…We could have saved the second floor,Maillot Psg 2019 Pas Cher, but they did not allow residents to help. There was so few of them that they could not do much.”Despite several trips to the seawall,Benson Mayowa Jersey, the blaze intensified for about half of an hour allowing it to reach the upper flat of the building.“We have lived here all of my life. I grew up in that building. All of my childhood memories are in that building…,” Sasha Mahadeo said as she recounted how an individual who appeared to be in charge of the fire fighters started calling them back out. At that time, Sasha said, there were only two officers battling the fire.And just when they thought that the fire was extinguished she said that she observed a flame.The young lady said she and her sister attempted to inform the fire fighters who according to her “started hitting (trying to befriend) on us.”“We came to tell them that the blaze is still going on and they are hitting on us…At the worse moment of my life I had to deal with unprofessional and unsavoury fire fighters,Angel Di Maria Jersey,” an enraged Sasha Mahadeo related.Her elder sister, Natasha, also recalled hearing one of the officers attribute their behaviour to confusion. “I am sorry, but that is their job.If citizens who are untrained were logical about the situation they by all means should have been better prepared to deal with a panic situation.”And while the family was not willing to speculate about the cause of the fire, they are confident that the investigators have ample evidence to go on.According to Sasha Mahadeo, “I can’t think of anyone who would want to carry out such a malicious and potentially murderous act… If the findings reveal that it was deliberate it would mean that the target was the entire family because of the time the fire started…We were all in bed.” |
