Section of Diamond Secondary gutted by early morning blaze

Dec 25, 2018 News

Diamond Secondary School has suffered a second misfortune in two months. A building in the middle section of the school’s compound was yesterday gutted by an early morning fire of unknown origin.

An overhead shot of the damaged section (circled)

The fire saw the school, which is located in Second Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, losing the headmistress and deputy’s offices, staff room, library and Information Technology lab.
Computers, staff records, documents, tokens such as trophies and certificates along with a number of books were also destroyed
According to a press release, from the Ministry of Education, at approximately 1:20 am yesterday, the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) responded to a report of a fire at the school.
However, upon their arrival, the middle section was already engulfed.
The release further stated that the cause of the fire was unknown to the time of the release and that the GFS conducted inspections to ascertain whether the fire was as a result of an electrical malfunction, but no issues were found with the electrical supply.
The Education Ministry noted that the school will reopen as scheduled, and further, that the Ministry, school’s administration, and other regional officials are currently engaged in ensuring that measures are in place for the smooth operation of the school when it opens.

A section of the burnt structure – the staff room

During an interview with Kaieteur News, Fire Chief Marlon Gentle disclosed that at around 1:28 am yesterday, a security guard from the school went to the adjacent Diamond Fire Station, and reported that the school was on fire.
When questioned about the possible cause of the fire and if there were any electrical issues, Gentle did not rule out any possibilities, but said that the fire service was treating the matter as suspicious. He also highlighted the incident, which occurred nearly two months ago.
On November 15 last, four teachers from Diamond Secondary School were taken into police custody over the disappearance of $107,000 from the school’s safe.
The money was reportedly collected from the 2018 batch of graduating students for their certificates and gowns, and only two persons were in possession of keys to the safe.
However, when senior officials inspected the safe, they were shocked to find that the money was gone. The police were called in and four female teachers were taken into custody.
They were detained at the East La Penitence Police Station but were released on $10,000 bail each. That investigation is ongoing.
This publication understands that the guard claims that he was in front of the building at around 11 o’clock Sunday night when he smelled something burning. However, upon checking, he saw nothing.

Flames shooting from the Admin building

Performing his usual duties of checking the building every hour, he reportedly checked around the building again at 12:00 pm, and saw nothing unusual.
However, later on, he noticed smoke emanating from the administrative building, and upon inquiring he saw that the building was on fire. It was then that he reportedly rushed to the fire station.
Kaieteur News was informed by a source that the school’s safe showed signs of being scorched.