Latest update December 23rd, 2024 3:40 AM
Four fires in one day … Suspicious fire destroys Tiger Bay Youth Centre
Camp Street fire
Fire prevention coverage across the Demerara County was put to the test yesterday with four big blazes erupting within the space of a few hours. The penultimate fire occurred yesterday afternoon as the West End Youth Culture Centre at Hope Street, Cummingsburg went up in flames.
As three fire engines worked to contain that blaze, the last fire erupted at a dwelling house at Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara location.
While the origin of the Youth Centre’s fire is so far undetermined, initial reports are that the blaze started soon after a man was seen leaving the building. He was promptly taken into police custody.
The other fires occurred at Zeelugt Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara; Crane Public Road, West Coast Demerara; Melanie Damishana Public Road, East Coast Demerara and Hope Street, Cummingsburg.
Three of the four fires were at dwelling houses.
Just around 17:00 hours, Cummingsburg villagers reported seeing the bottom flat of the Youth Centre on fire with heavy smoke emanating from the two-storey building. When Kaieteur News visited the scene, dozens of residents were standing around the burnt building.
The fire service came in for heavy praise for the work they did on the building. Residents were grateful that the blaze was contained promptly and that the building had not been burned flat.
The 45-year-old wooden building was once the centre of activity in the community. It once housed a gym on the bottom flat and the upper flat was used for sewing and other classes. Up to yesterday, the back of the lower flat was being used by two customs brokers for office space.
According to the residents, it was also being used by the police for its initiatives in the area.
No one was injured.
Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle said “This period always has the tendency, from our records, for a lot of fires to be occurring, mostly because school is out and some other activities also start to happen like camping.”
He said, too, that persons are not always careful. “Caution should be the watchword every day. People have to take responsibility for their actions within their own environment in which they operate. They have to be safe and stop taking chances.”
The Fire Chief stated that there needs to be a heightened level of how electricity is used. According to him, the Easter, August and Christmas periods are considered the peak times for fires.
He said that investigators learnt that the fire started shortly after a man was seen leaving the building. That person was taken into police custody. The blaze was contained by fire fighters who responded from three stations, including Central and Alberttown.
“Someone was seen coming out of the building and then they saw fire so we are still investigating. I can’t say exactly what caused the fire but we are dealing with it with some degree of suspicion.”
As it relates to the fire at Zeelugt, Gentle said that investigators have determined that it was caused by “some form of malicious act stemming from a dispute.” He said that the fire at Crane was electrical in origin.
Investigations are continuing.
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