Latest update January 18th, 2025 6:40 AM
Skeldon guesthouse destroyed by fire
Kaieteur News – The nine-bedroom Embassy Guesthouse located at Skeldon, Corentyne, Berbice, which comprises a restaurant and bar, was yesterday destroyed by fire. Kaieteur News understands that the fire which started around 02:30hrs completely gutted the wooden and concrete building in less than two hours.
The Embassy Guesthouse at Skeldon was destroyed by fire yesterday.
Swarendra Sukhpaul, a businessman from Line Path, Upper Corentyne, who is the owner of the property, estimated his losses to be “in the millions of dollars.”
The businessman told Kaieteur News that he received a call from a neighbour early Saturday morning, informing him that smoke was coming from his property at Skeldon. He said he immediately contacted the Skeldon Fire Service before venturing to the scene.
He said when he arrived the fire was small. However, by the time the fire tender came, the entire top of the building was consumed with flames.
To make matters worse, the businessman reported that the fire tender ran out of water and was forced to make several trips to get water before they could control the blaze.
“When they came, they did a good job at trying to out it, but because of the (limited) water the fire truck only had like 400 gallons of water. They had to make like five trips to bring back water. By that time the fire destroy the entire building,” he said.
The businessman, who usually rents the building to locals and other persons visiting the Upper Corentyne from Suriname and other countries, explained that the facility was powered by the Guyana Power Light Inc. (GPL).
He noted that no technician has visited the location for over a month.
As such, the proprietor believes that the cause of the fire may have been electrical in origin.
He qualified this theory by relating that “a lot of people complaining about this on and off current [electricity].” Sukhpaul told this newspaper too that this is the second time that fire erupted at the property. According to the businessman, in the late 1990’s when the building was owned by someone else, a fire destroyed it but it was rebuilt and he subsequently bought the place in 2012.
Both police and fire service investigations have been launched into the incident.
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