–?? Alert area residents prevent total ruin By Zena HenryQuick reaction from nearby residents early yesterday morning prevented total devastation of the Merriman Funeral Home, at Lime and Bent Streets, Georgetown, when an early morning fire damaged sections of the building, including the chapel and garage.Parlour officials estimated that the damage could easily run into millions of dollars, as two hearses were destroyed, as well as coffins and expensive infrastructure.One of the damaged hearses.Fire Chief Marlon Gentle told Kaieteur News that preliminary investigations have revealed that fires were set in different sections of the building. Gentle said a flammable substance was thrown under the door of the front entrance,Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic, while the hearses too were set alight deliberately.A group of young male area residents braved the flames, using buckets of water and sand to extinguish the blaze.One man who lives in the vicinity of the Funeral Home told Kaieteur News that a loud explosion was heard around midnight and shortly after smoke was seen emanating from the south western side of the intersection at Lime and Bent Streets.The man said it was his mother who alerted persons in their home that the smoke and flames were coming from Merriman’s. He said he and two of his brothers raced to the location where the fire was raging in the garage and at the front entrance of the building at which there are two wooden double-doors.The man said the three of them were joined by two male neighbours. Buckets of water from a nearby gutter were used to douse the fire at the outer part of the entrance,Wholesale China Jerseys, but it was determined that there were also flames at the inner area. More residents joined in the firefight with buckets of sand.Residents said that a fire tender arrived on the scene at around 00:45h.“By the time they got here it was only the hearses that were still on fire,” one neighbour told Kaieteur News.? “We had already contained that fire at the entrance.”The three brothers and their two friends were first on the scene,Wholesale Jerseys, and except for the fire, they said nothing else seemed odd or suspicious. Their quick and decisive action was lauded by many as the fire could have been devastating given the proximity of adjacent buildings.Funeral Coordinator and Administrative Supervisor, Yvonne Berry,NFL Jerseys Cheap, told this publication that around 01:00h,Wholesale Jerseys China, she received a telephone call at home about the fire,Cheap Air Max 90 Men Shoes, and by the time she reached on the scene, it had already been contained.Berry said she has worked at the Funeral Home for some 19 years and never had such a thing occurred. She said that “by the looks of things the fire was no accident”, but had no idea why anyone would perpetrate such an act.Berry confirmed that the chapel – where funeral services are conducted – sustained the most damage. The fire reached the lower ceiling and caused significant damage. The upper flat sustained minor damage, while several coffins and other burial materials that were on display on the lower flat were burnt.The chapel also bears the effects of the blaze.Meanwhile, later in the day, staffers at the parlour were preparing themselves for two scheduled funerals. “We have to do it. Friends will aid our efforts, but to be fully operational will take some time.”Kaieteur News was told that the proprietors of the popular establishment are out of the country.