By Travis Chase | HGP Nightly News|
NORTH SOPHIA, GUYANA — Relatives of a man now under close police supervision following a catastrophic fire at North Sophia say they remain deeply shaken and completely baffled by his erratic behavior in the hours leading up to the blaze. Preliminary investigations by the Guyana Fire Service have formally determined that the fire, which completely leveled three homes and left seven people homeless on Sunday, was maliciously set.
The disaster unfolded at Lot 10 North Sophia, where the flames rapidly tore through a cluster of residential structures, reducing years of hard-earned personal belongings and family homes to ash.
Among those left entirely destitute is Maurica Wellington, a mother of three, who lost her house and virtually every asset she owned. According to Wellington, the male relative at the center of the arson probe had shown troubling, sudden changes in his mental state shortly before the outbreak, appearing deeply unwell and socially withdrawn.
“If he do get back himself and he see what he did, he break it down right now,” Wellington lamented, indicating her belief that the suspect was not in a normal state of mind during the incident.
The structural loss has dealt a severe psychological and economic blow to the family. Wellington had spent years accumulating resources to provide for her children, who are currently in the middle of writing their national school examinations. Due to the total destruction of their uniforms, textbooks, and school supplies, the children have been left unable to attend their exam centers. The family is currently displaced and entirely dependent on the hospitality of extended relatives for temporary shelter.
Her brother, Robert Wellington, echoed these grave concerns, confirming that the family had actually been discussing taking the man to seek immediate medical and psychiatric evaluation. He noted that the suspect had spent the morning complaining of severe physical pain and displaying acute emotional distress.
Robert explained that he had briefly stepped away from the property when he received an emergency call informing him that a motorcycle on the lot had been set ablaze and the fire was spreading. By the time he raced back to the scene, local residents were already engaged in a desperate, unequipped battle to contain the inferno.
“At this point… catch a fire little I heard it. I wasn’t there so I won’t say oh if he light the fire or catch a fire, but I know that something like it happened to car,” Robert stated, recalling the initial confusion on the ground.
The Guyana Fire Service has since clarified the technical mechanics of the disaster. Arson investigators confirmed that the blaze was intentionally set, originating directly on a motorcycle parked on the premises before feeding on nearby structural materials.
While responding firefighters deployed three water tenders to the location and successfully executed containment protocols to prevent the fire from sweeping through the wider, densely populated neighborhood, they were unable to save the core properties. Three residential buildings were entirely destroyed, while a fourth sustained severe structural damage. The suspect remains under official investigation as criminal charges loom.
