Latest update December 22nd, 2024 4:10 AM
Nov 25, 2015 News
Fire fighters last night came in for high praises from University of Guyana students and lecturers, after they were able to contain a blaze that threatened to create havoc on the Turkeyen campus
In the end the blaze was contained to a section of the Natural Sciences Faculty building.
The fire which started around 18:45hrs completely gutted the Section “C” building, according to Calvin Bernard, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
Bernard recounted that he was in his office when he got a call that one of the buildings from his department was on fire.
“I came out and saw the fire, and in minutes, it completely destroyed one of the buildings that served as three offices.”
The building was also used to store research and teaching materials as well as some equipment.
Luckily, Bernard said, the building as far as he was aware, did not house any hazardous materials or any current teaching materials. The Dean also told this publication that there was no one in the building at the time, as it is closed off for construction work. He however noted that while the fire has caused some damage, there will be no major effect on the normal university life.
Regular classes are also not going to be affected, he assured.
When this publication arrived on the campus at around 19:12 hours, firefighters were just swinging into action with more than three tenders on location. As the fire raged through the one-flat building and caught on to the sides of two stables, students could be seen running to offer assistance, while others simply stood by video recording what was unfolding and snapping photographs. Aback of the stable that was destroyed, documents from students as well as some furniture and several fire extinguishers were seen strewn on the lawns.
The origin of the fire is not yet known, but students noted that from their observations, it started in a storage area for chemicals in one of the buildings. They reported hearing a small explosion coming from the chemical storage facility moments before the fire was spotted.
Professor Jacob Opadeyi, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University said the fire will not cause any stalling of examinations that are due in a few days. Opadeyi told reporters that based on what he gathered, the fire has given the University a chance to further access the need for more hydrants on campus.
Losses were mostly for some of the lecturers whose personal belongings and past documents were also destroyed.
The university head praised the fire service, saying that the firefighters did a fantastic job of containing the blaze, despite the lack of properly working fire hydrants at the facility.
“We are lucky to have a water pump close to here and that is where the Fire Service got water to operate their machines”, he told media operatives.
Looking ahead, he said his priority is to get assistance, including counseling for the lecturers who would have lost their personal belongings as well as others who were affected by the blaze.
He too made it clear that classes will resume as normal today as the fire did not and will not affect exams, since the area where the fire occurred is not where students will be sitting their exams.
He also noted that lecturers would have back-up questions to set new papers if needs be.
As part of its investigations, the Guyana Fire Service has already questioned some students and lecturers who were on site at the start of the blaze. (Mondale Smith)
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