21 fires since start of 2023

Feb 26, 2023 News

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…more than half electrical

By Shervin Belgrave

Kaieteur News – It has been a busy year for the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) so far. At least 21 fires have been reported across the country in less than two months and almost half of this number was electrical in nature.

The GFS is still to report on the cause of four fires but out of 21, nine were ruled as electrical.  For the remaining eight that have occurred, four were ruled as alleged arson attacks, two as a result of children playing with matches, one because of a chemical reaction and one was ignited by welding sparks.

The fiery disasters killed two persons, injured several others and displaced several families.  Guyana also lost a market that housed over 160 vendors and a secondary school that facilitated 502 students.

The GFS has been doing its best to spread awareness to prevent such disasters but what worries the agency is the recent surge in electrical fires that has so far resulted in the death of two persons – a 60-year-old businessman, Rajendra Mohabir better known as “Slowie” of Windsor Forest West Coast Demerara (WCD) and eight-year-old, Jermaine Johnson of Cummings Lodge, Georgetown.

In a statement made on February 18, the GFS stated, “We at the Guyana Fire Service are concerned and wish to highlight a few areas that are the likely cause of electrical fires and ways to reduce the risk.”

Some of the areas highlighted by the agency were, slack connections, aged electrical installation, overloading of circuits, malfunction of electrical appliances, substandard electrical equipment such as drop cords, power strips and illegal connections.

As it relates to persons who steal electricity, the fire service stated, “It poses a significant danger to both the individuals working on the installations and to all the residents of the area. The chances of fire and electrical overloads are increased, which can cause serious damage to households”.

At around 15:32hrs on January 25, Carl Gill of Lot 25 Norton Street, Georgetown almost lost his home after a house next door to his caught fire because of an illegal electrical connection.  Luckily for him firefighters arrived in short order and were able to save his house although it did receive some damage due to the heat radiated from the burning house.

One day later on January 27, a family of six in Cummings Lodge, Georgetown paid a heavy price after one of their electrical appliances malfunctioned and started a fire that left two of them severely injured and eight-year-old Jermaine Johnson dead.

According to the GFS, the fire started around 02:43hrs that morning after a fan overheated and ignited combustible materials at the time.

The family was asleep and some only escaped in the nick of time while Johnson, his 75-year-old grandmother Lynette Gray and a four year –year child had to be rescued after being trapped.

They sustained burns about their bodies and had to be rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where Johnson later died while receiving treatment.

Hours after the Cummings Lodge disaster, another electrical fire threatened to destroy the Linden Hospital Complex located at Riverside Drive, Watooka, in the Region Ten District.

At around 13:45hrs, a faulty fluorescent lamp overheated and exploded in the X-ray department causing a fire to erupt.  The building was saved after an on-duty security guard risked his life to extinguish the flames with a fire extinguisher that was in the building.

The very next day (January 28), a family of four was left homeless after the circuit panel of their Lot 243 Downer Street, Grove, East Bank Demerara (EBD) home, exploded by a fluctuation of electricity. Their home was burnt to the ground.

A week later on February 3, a faulty electrical wiring ignited a fire at Agricola on the East Bank of Demerara (EDB) destroying the house of a family of seven and damaging three others in the vicinity.

The following week on February 12, 60-year-old Windsor Forest businessman Rajendra Mohabir lost his life after electricity fluctuations set his house afire.

The GFS had stated that the fluctuations caused arcing and sparking at the breaker panel box of his home and ignited nearby combustible materials.

Mohabir was reportedly showering at the time and had no clue that the building had caught fire until his son had ran upstairs to alert him, his wife, daughter and grandson.

Amidst the panic, Mohabir had reportedly grabbed some clothes and dressed and was already down the stairs when he turned back to save his grandson who he taught was still in the building.

His family members tried to tell him that the boy the safe but by the time they could have alerted him, he was already trapped and burned to death. His loved ones tried to save him but the flames were too much and they had to retreat after sustaining injuries.

These are just a few of the fires that have taken place during the first 56 days of 2023.

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• electrical, fire, Fire Service, Guyana, Mohabir

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