The home of the late Lincoln “Uncle Polo” Williams, bandmaster of the COFONA Marching Band, was destroyed by fire on Saturday afternoon at Islington Village, Greater New Amsterdam, leaving his widow and three other occupants, including a minor, homeless.
Regional Fire Chief Clive McDonald said the fire call was received at 4.10 pm and the first tender responded ten minutes later. The house was already almost completely engulfed when firefighters arrived. A second tender also responded.
Preliminary findings suggest that the fire may have been started by a child playing with matches or a lighter near a mattress.
Residents said the house was engulfed while firefighters were sourcing water.
“There was nothing to save by the time they got there,” a man who gave his name as Agard said.
Williams’s widow, Cheryl Williams, was too distraught to speak as she watched the family home burn.
Her husband, a retired Guyana Defence Force bandsman, founded the Council of Friends of New Amsterdam (COFONA) Marching Band in 2010 to guide young people through music. He died earlier this year at age 73 following a terminal illness.
Discussion