Just two months before a devastating fire razed her three-storey Charlestown, Georgetown building, the owner, Hazel Alves, had invested $10 million in renovations. This building had been her family home for over 40 years, where she raised her seven children.
Hazel Alves revealed, “Before the fire, I had already spent a lot of money. I took out a loan from the bank and carried out extensive renovations… The rest of the money I had to leave in the house, and it all burned up in the fire. I saved nothing.”
She further explained, “I had already spent over $10 million because I added ornamental window moldings all around the building and did various other improvements.”
The fire occurred around 6:00 PM on October 4, impacting Hazel, her husband, her 97-year-old mother, two of her seven children, and seven grandchildren who all resided in the Lot 33 Howes and Lyng Street, Charlestown home. Unfortunately, none of their belongings were salvaged.
Following the fire, the family has been temporarily separated, seeking shelter with relatives and neighbors. Although the building was insured, Hazel Alves is determined to rebuild.
She stated, “I am rebuilding; I just need to have faith because my blood pressure was fluctuating. I don’t want to dwell on it.”
One of Hazel’s sons, Keitzel Bazilio, sustained burns to his back and hands while attempting to rescue his four-year-old son, whom he believed was trapped inside the burning building.
Keitzel Bazilio recounted, “While trying to run to the back, I got trapped in a room, and I had to jump through the window. I fell, but I still managed to escape because there is a living God, and God is great and good.”
Keitzel expressed uncertainty about his next steps, saying, “Since this incident happened, I haven’t had a good rest. I stay here all the time; I just bathe, come back, and stay here all the time, day and night… I’m still trying to figure things out because we lost a lot of things. Everything was burned to the ground.”
An investigation by the Guyana Fire Service determined that faulty electrical connections caused overheating of electrical wires, leading to the fire’s outbreak.
Hazel’s daughter, Odessa Alves, shared that the fire began in one of the bedrooms on the top floor. She added that two days prior to the fire, electrical fluctuations had damaged a fridge and a TV.
The family expressed satisfaction with the government’s support. Odessa disclosed that President Dr. Irfaan Ali had offered her husband, Gregory Richardson, a former national footballer, a turn-key house in Diamond, East Bank Demerara, and they plan to move in soon.
