The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) Friday said the Christmas Day fire that killed three members of a family at Linden, the second largest city in the country, had been deliberately set.
In a statement, the GFS said investigations into the fire that claimed the lives of 30-year-old Zella Lawrence, 16-year-old Angelique Lawrence and eight-year-old Ronika Lawrence had now been completed and that “fire prevention officials were able to determine that the fire was maliciously set by person(s) unknown”.
The fire occurred during the early hours on Christmas Day and while firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the building’s bottom floor, “where a single sofa set was destroyed and four metres of ceiling, along with a large amount of clothing, sustained significant damage…all the occupants of the two-storey building had died.
“The Fire Service would like to once again extend sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased and to encourage anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for this heinous crime to contact the police,” the GFS added.
