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Fire Prevention Week off to a disastrous start
– Two fires recorded over the weekend
Kaieteur News – Fire Prevention Week 2021 is off to a disastrous start as the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) recorded two fires over the weekend. One of those fires saw 80 per cent of Regional Headquarters for Division 4(A), the Brickdam Police Station being destroyed last Saturday.
Fire Prevention observance week was launched yesterday at the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Mess Hall, Eve Leary, Georgetown, with a church service to commence the celebration. This year’s observance is being held under the theme, “Its better being safe with the Fire Prevention in place.”
The remains of the fire at Kwakwani Park.
The week of observance commenced yesterday and will conclude on Saturday October 9, 2021, with a ‘Cooling the Blaze’ exercise. That exercise will be held at the Stabroek Market Square from 10:00hrs, while a practical demonstration will be held tomorrow at Durban Park, Georgetown, from 10:00hrs.
Kaieteur News reported that a devastating fire on Saturday flattened the Brickdam Police Station and another business place close by on Hadfield Street. Apart from the rubble that it left behind, the fire destroyed vehicles, office equipment and records.
According to the GPF, the fire reportedly began around 11:06hrs in the upper part of an eastern building and spread to several other buildings in the compound.
In a subsequent report on the fire it was stated that a prisoner reportedly confessed to police that he was the one who set fire to the station by using a cigarette lighter, a piece of sponge and a wire.
According to a statement sent out, yesterday by the Force’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), the prisoner identified by Police as Clarence Greene, of Lot 2292, Princess Street Lodge was at the time being held in the Brickdam Police lockups as a suspect in an armed robbery.
During his confession he reportedly told investigators that he had decided to set the station on fire because he was frustrated with being detained in the lockups for hours. Ranks had reportedly arrested him at least three hours before the blaze began.
The remains of the Brickdam Police Station.
Yesterday, a fire of unknown origin completely destroyed a one-storey wooden structure in Kwakwani Park, Upper Berbice River.
According to a police report on the fire, around 10:00hrs, a 62-year-old Machine Operator was at home when he smelled smoke in the area. He immediately went to his verandah and saw smoke emanating from the home of 28-year-old Kelvin Gordon, who was at the time laying on the steps in an intoxicated state yelling “Oh lord take my life.”
Kaieteur News understands that Gordon is in the habit of consuming alcohol on a daily basis. He was removed from the house while a bucket brigade was formed by neighbours who were unable to extinguish the fire which quickly spread and consumed the entire building.
Due to the state Gordon was in at the time of the fire, he was unable to give vital information about the fire. As such, he was detained for questioning while the investigation is ongoing.
ACTS OF ARSON
The fire at the Brickdam Police Station is suspected as an act of arson due to the confession given by a prisoner.
According to reports, preliminary investigations carried out by the GFS revealed that the fire at the Vigilance Police Station which destroyed one house and two motor vehicles on September 21, 2021, was also an act of arson.
The fire last week at the Mabaruma Secondary School was reportedly an act of arson. These fires are presently being investigated.
The Ministry of Home Affairs in a statement yesterday stated that Fire Prevention Week has started with the experience of a total loss of the Brickdam Police Station.
“While the investigations are ongoing into the circumstances and perpetration of the fire, which is believed to be an act of arson, efforts are underway to evaluate the performance of the Guyana Fire Service on what turned out to be a large conflagration,” it was further noted in the release.
The operations of the Brickdam Police Station have since been relocated to temporary facilities on the eastern side of the St. Stanislaus College Compound.
Additionally, President Irfaan Ali, during a visit to the St. Stanislaus College Compound, yesterday expressed his dissatisfaction with the Fire Service’s response to the fire at one of Guyana’s major police station.
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