Three Businesses Destroyed In Regent Street Fire

Pandemonium broke out on Regent Street last evening when a fire, believed to be electrical in origin, destroyed three businesses.

There was a blackout in the area, and eye-witnesses say that when power was restored around 17:00h, some power lines burst into flames and the fire leapt on to the Household Electronics building. At the end of it all, it was estimated that millions of dollars had gone up in smoke.

The gutted buildings are Household Electronics, which sold clothing and household appliances, their storage bond behind, which also housed a pet shop, and DM Beauty World Store, the cosmetic store.

Within half hour the fire had raged out of control as the Guyana Fire Service tried desperately to control the flames, fuelled by perfumes and other chemical substances from DM Beauty World Store.

The conflagration started at Household Electronics Store and quickly engulfed the entire building, and then it spread to the bond building behind it and the next door store, DM Beauty World.

New Equipment For Fire Service

The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) yesterday received three water tenders, one water carrier and one Land Rover from Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee.

The handing over took place at the National Park, Thomas Lands, Georgetown, following a drill display, and coincides with Fire Prevention Week, with the theme: “Fire Prevention needs everyone attention”.

Minister Clement Rohee, in brief remarks, told the gathering that the administration recognizes the work of the GFS and is seeking to retool the entity and enhance its capacity.

The minister pointed out too that as part of the Ministry of Home Affairs strategic plan for the GFS, several new facilities units have been constructed countrywide, and these will be equipped.

He said the current expansion programme saw the construction of a new fire station at Bartica in Essequibo and Rose Hall, Berbice.

Rohee added that the government of Guyana has made $318M available to boost GFS mechanisms, even more so to deal with the current El Niño weather pattern.

He said that new appliances are expected shortly, including one for the aircraft at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CIJA).

Rohee pointed out that with the newer appliances, the GFS will eventually reduce the loss of lives and damage to property in fire fighting.

Meanwhile, the Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle expressed gratitude to the Ministry for the timely gift.

Mr. Gentle noted too that new emergency vehicles will be added to Regions Two, Three Seven and Ten.

Quick Thinking Prevents Major Linden Fire

A fine `busing’ prevented a small fire at the Krescent Mall at Mackenzie, Linden from ending up as a major catastrophe yesterday.

No one believed Kevin Baron when he ran into the mall and admonished them to evacuate. “Twice, I calmly told everyone that there was a fire and that they should evacuate but no one took me seriously I had to put on deh ghetto style and say deh #$%^% building on fire,” he told Stabroek News. It was at that point he said persons took him seriously and rushed to secure their shops before evacuating. No one was injured.

Baron is one of the store owners and he was at his music shop some distance away when a man told him that there was a fire at the mall. “Well I know I got massive investments in my business there. I grabbed my slippers and ran over to the store,” he said.

One tenant told Stabroek News that she had just returned from the secondary school costume competition and was in her ice-cream shop. “We smell dis strong smoke but thought it was some heap burning on the outside of the building,” she said. But she became concerned when she noticed smoke engulfing the building and consistent irregular crackling sounds coming from the ceiling. The fire was discovered when she went outside and noticed heavy smoke streaming out of the ceiling of the bottom floor. Others also became very confused when they saw heavy smoke engulfing the building.

A man who was doing some work on the inside of the build yesterday said he noticed heavy sparks coming out of electrical outlets.

Others on the bottom flat of the two-storey building said that they were forced to constantly change light bulbs since they blew frequently.

Firefighters had to break open the concrete casing of the outer section of the building where the fire was in order to put out the flames.

All feared the worst had the fire broken out at night, when no one was in the building.

Tenants of the mall were high in their praise for the quick response of the Linden firefighters.e mall, managed by Reginald Sancho and partners, houses approximately thirty tenants. He could not be reached for comment.

Source: www.stabroeknews.com

Fire Service Points To Faulty Hydrants In New Amsterdam Deaths

The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) has acknowledged that the lack of water in nearby hydrants hampered fire-fighters battling the blaze that claimed the lives of four persons at New Amsterdam last month.

In a press release, the GFS said that an investigation into the Charlotte Street, New Amsterdam inferno revealed that the town’s fire station received a call at 2:02am on January 24 from a joint services rank, who was informed about the fire by a neighbour.

The statement said that the GFS arrived at the scene within three minutes though owing to the “time lost factor”, on the arrival of the first response crew, the entire first floor, which housed the resting rooms for the family, was engulfed in flames. It stated that on the commencement of operations, firefighters began working from their tank supply and since the supply was limited, they attempted to source water from nearby hydrants. “That proved futile since there was no water in the system. Firefighters were then forced water from a nearby chamber but that also provided for a limited time of firefighting,” the GFS declared.

It added that the firemen eventually resorted to accessing water from the Republic Avenue canal though they first had to clear portions of the canal of overgrowth and garbage to achieve a successful flow of water.

The fire fighters at New Amsterdam, who responded to the fire, must be commended, when one considers the fact that a fire of such magnitude was contained to the building of origin, the release asserted, while stating that all concerned must consider safety as equally important as security.

This newspaper had previously reported on the issue with the hydrants. Sources had disclosed that 46 new hydrants had been installed around New Amsterdam within recent times but they are reportedly non-functional and water can only be accessed from some of the hydrant pits. It was stated that the contractors did a poor job during the installation of the emergency pipes which has never been corrected.

The January 24 fire had ripped through the two-flat wooden and concrete house around 1:40 am leaving the owner of Persaud’s Funeral Home, Ivor Persaud, 63; his wife Patsy Persaud, 60 and their grandchildren, nine-year-old Melissa and five-year-old Armand, dead. Post-mortem examinations performed on their charred remains proved that they died from smoke inhalation.

The GFS statement did not say whether its investigations had determined the cause of the fire. The statement expressed the fire service’s condolences to the relatives and friends of the Persauds.

Further, the GFS added that it is constantly working through its budgetary allocation to improve its overall response capabilities and stated that it is cognizant of the government’s commitment to this cause pointing to the allocation in this year’s budget for the procurement of fire tenders, an aircraft crash tender, a water carrier and other support equipment.