HOPE THEY HAD INSURANCE!

Mar 07, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The blame game has already started about last Saturday’s fire at Grove on the East Bank of Demerara. The initial target of the “blame game” seems to be some gas bottles that were being stored on one of the premises destroyed by the fire, but initial reports have not indicated just what started the fire.
But while uncovering the source of the inferno may explain just what went wrong, it is not going to help those whose homes have been destroyed by the blaze. Many of the affected are understandably distraught after seeing the life savings go up with the flames.
Hopefully, all of them would have insured their buildings and would therefore be able to rebuild. If they have not insured their buildings, then this would be extremely unfortunate.
The insurers would, like all of those affected, be also interested in learning about what caused the fire. They too may be asking questions about the gas bottles in one of the buildings which housed a business.
There is as yet no certainty that the fire was caused by these gas bottles. In fact, these types of bottles rarely cause fires.
What they may do when they explode is to cause the fire to spread more rapidly and deter fire- fighting efforts. The gas bottles were there no doubt for a purpose, and no one, it would seem, felt that these bottles could pose a serious problem for the community. If they did, then they should state whether any complaints or reports were made. There is no indication that anyone complained about these gas bottles or the fact that the Grove Public Road has a number of businesses alongside residential houses.
This sort of arrangement whereby eating and drinking houses are established within what was once residential property has made Grove what it is today. In fact, this sort of development is spreading within the Grove area and there is no separate area for business and for residential houses.
It is also a problem that is pervasive throughout Guyana and which seems to have no end in sight. And having businesses, especially restaurants, within residential properties will always increase the risk of fire. However, it is not clear so far how the fire started and no doubt the Fire Service will have to do their own investigations.
The results of that investigation should be made public so that an assessment can be made that could lead to changes that would ensure that such fires are minimised in the future.
Fires cannot be totally eliminated but certainly their incidence can be decreased and damages they cause can be reduced by effective zoning and improved fire-fighting capability.
The fire last Saturday in Grove should not have resulted in the destruction of five buildings. Whether or not gas bottles were involved, the fire should have been contained to within two buildings. That five buildings were destroyed in what in normal circumstances was an ordinary fire, points to the level of fire-fighting capability within the country and the need for a change in the building codes so that buildings are not constructed too close to one another.
This was not an industrial fire and therefore in normal circumstances the fire ought to have been contained to no more than two houses. That five were destroyed shows that we still have a far way to go in appreciating the importance of firefighting.
The Ministry of Home Affairs should assemble a task force of competent and knowledgeable persons to develop fire fighting plans for all areas of the country. For an area as large of Diamond- Grove, there is a need for a large fire terminal and for fire hydrants but it seems as if in the haste to develop housing areas, little attention is being paid to putting in the infrastructure to fight fires.
What is even sadder about last Saturday’s fire is that the area where the fire took place is a few hundred metres away from the river and therefore there should have been no problems with sourcing water.
The blame game will not bring any comfort to those affected but it can at least help in ensuring that something like this does not happen again.

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