Two Diwali fires caused by Diya and faulty freezer

Oct 31, 2019 News

After a thorough investigation and an electrical assessment were completed, Fire Chief Marlon Gentle said that diyas and a faulty freezer were the causes of the two Diawali fires.

Side shot of the Guinness Bar fire.

Houses destroyed at Peters Hall on Sunday night.

One of these fires occurred on Sunday night. It resulted in two houses being completely burnt and another severely torched at Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara (EBD).
Initially, eyewitnesses and Omadai Persaud had told reporters that the probable cause of fire was electrical.
Persaud said that she was conversing with her sister at the front of their house when all of sudden loud explosions were heard. Immediately, she entered the house only to be greeted with sparks from an electric meter and flames from the kitchen.
Eyewitnesses also told Kaieteur News that the fire had begun with a spark from a meter located at the back of the Persaud’s house.
Also believing that the origin of fire was electrical was Persaud’s nephew, Ishwar Rajat, who claimed that the meter had been sparking for some time. He added that it was reported to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) on numerous occasions but no one came to investigate.
However, yesterday this misconception was ruled out after investigations revealed that there was nothing wrong with the electrical meter. The Fire Chief said that they have concluded that the cause of the fire is the lit diyas that were placed inside the house.
Investigators suggested that a flame from one of the lit diya may have come into contact with a carpet that was on the floor and then spread to the walls of the aged wooden building.
Meanwhile on Monday night, Guinness Bar located on Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, Georgetown was also destroyed by fire. The upper flat was severely scorched.
Neighbours told this newspaper that the landlady who resides in the upper flat of the building was unaware that a fire had erupted in the bottom flat of her property. She was immediately alerted and made her escape by running out of the building with her daughter and other family members.
Eyewitnesses said that the fire erupted on the side of the building close to the electrical meter. They all assumed that fire was caused by an electrical fault.
This turned out to be true according to the investigations carried out but it had nothing to do with the electrical meter. The cause was an electrical feedback from a faulty freezer that was owned by Guinness Bar.
This fire resulted in an estimated loss of $15 million to Troy Mendonca, the operator of the bar.3

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