Alberttown blaze… Home owners not satisfied with level of investigation

Jul 25, 2015 News

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Even as they await an official word on the cause of the fire that gutted their home earlier this month, Rafeek Khan and his wife, Zilla, are contending that the Guyana Fire Service might not have been very straightforward with all information regarding its response.

While acknowledging that nothing can undo the destruction of their home situated at Fourth Street, Alberttown, Georgetown, the couple stressed their disappointment that a Fire Station, situated a few meters away, could not have done a single thing to help save their home. Regarding as worrying the state of affairs that caused them to lose their home, the couple yesterday made reference to reported remarks by Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle, that while the Alberttown Fire Station could not have done anything to save the property, firemen had however helped to ensure relatives at home were safely out of the building.

Though admitting that the Fire Station did not have the capacity to tackle the fire, Gentle had told this publication that the firemen on duty at the Alberttown Fire Station were able ensure that the occupants of the house were safe.

“The men did what they could…they ensured that the children were out (of) the house. The Unit that responded took five minutes to get there and when the guys (at Alberttown) saw the fire the roof was already caving…the people in there were lucky they are alive,” Gentle had intimated.

While the couple was not at home at the time of the fire, Mr. Khan’s nephew, Trevon Hohenkirk, was one of the occupants there. He claims that he never saw any fire rank rendering assistance in the wee hours of July 5, 2015 before the arrival of a fire tender from the Central Fire Station.

According to Hohenkirk the fire tender that eventually responded did so almost half an hour after the fire was reported.

The Khans are therefore questioning the wisdom in having a facility intended to tackle fires not being operational.

While initial reports suggested that the Fire Station was unable to respond because the driver of the fire tender had reported sick, Fire Chief Gentle had later told this publication that the Alberttown Fire Station was, in fact, not a suitable “standalone” responder and therefore would not have been able to effectively tackle the fire on its own anyway.

He had also confirmed reports that the fire tender assigned to the facility was removed from the Alberttown location and parked at the Central Fire Station at Stabroek, Georgetown.

A fire tender in the compound of the Alberttown Fire Station at the time of the fire was not operable “because of a want of spares,” Gentle had said. That fire tender, he said, was sent from Bartica a few weeks ago.

Fire hydrant issue

Another sore point for the homeowners is uncertainty over the presence of a fire hydrant nearby. There were reports that suggested that a businessman had allowed a container to be placed in such a way that it had blocked a fire hydrant thus preventing firemen from accessing it in order to help fight the fire.

The businessman had insisted that there was no fire hydrant there and this publication upon checking too was unable to locate one. However, a fire officer has since explained that there are usually two types of hydrants – one of which is visible and another type that is situated underground. The fire hydrant in question, according to the fire officer, is situated underground.

“They (Fire Service) should not have allowed that man to place his container there…people can’t readily see it (the fire hydrant) but they (firemen) know that it is there,” said Mr. Khan as he made reference to the fact that the responding firemen were forced to resort to a nearby drain for water.

Mr. Khan is convinced that something “fishy” might have occurred since the issue of blocking the fire hydrant from all indications was not dealt with.

Lengthy process

Meanwhile, Mr Khan said that his attempt to get from fire officials the cause of the fire was met with disclosures that he would have to seek legal support. “The fire people say that they don’t give their reports to home owners. You have to get it through a lawyer, through your insurance company, and I think that is very unfair because as a homeowner you would want to know how your place burn,” said Mr. Khan.

He added, “We lost millions (of dollars) in our home that we cannot replace.”

Gentle had disclosed that the fire was electrical in origin but according to Mr. Khan, “We need a report saying that because I wanted to forward a complaint to GPL (Guyana Power and Light Inc.). People say they see fire running on the electrical wire and that started the fire but I can’t blame GPL if I don’t know for sure what took place…”

According to Mrs. Khan, she and her husband worked hard to build the Alberttown residence in which they have been residing in for just over a decade and lost it because of no fault of theirs. “Everything we own now is on our backs,” lamented Mrs. Khan yesterday.

Added to this, the woman and her husband are distressed over the fact that they will be unable to rebuild until the insurance process is completed. “That can take a long time…what happens to me and my family in the mean time,” questioned Mr. Khan as he expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation of the Fire Service.

Currently, the family is being accommodated at a church friend’s residence at Farm, East Bank Demerara.

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