Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 21, 2017 News
Tragedy struck yesterday morning when a raging fire gutted three bonds which were housed in a four-storey building on Robb Street, Georgetown.
A clothing store is located at the bottom of the property, but it was not destroyed by the blaze.
The building is reportedly rented to a Chinese couple who operated a clothing store called, Joe Ming Sing in the lower flat while the upper flats are used as storage bonds.
Kaieteur News understands that the fire started after a generator exploded while three men were welding at the back of the top flat.
According to information received, the fire started sometime around 09:30 hrs and because it took fire fighters some 10 minutes to access water, the blaze spread to the three upper flats of the four-storey building.
Divisional Fire Officer, Compton Sparman said that the water system took about 10 to 15 minutes to develop because it was a time of the day when many people were using water.
To tackle the blaze, the firemen used water from a nearby canal and a fire hydrant which took some time to become active.
Businessman ‘Jap’ Rahaman, who owns a building next to the burnt one, said that when he got to the scene, the fire was only blazing in a small section of the upper flat. He said that while the fire tender arrived promptly, accessing water took some time.
According to Rahaman, he was informed that three men were welding something in the building and the generator exploded—this was reported to both the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Fire Service (GFS).
“I hear they run out and didn’t say anything, but it was when people start seeing the smoke then they say that the generator exploded,” Rahaman said, while adding that his building was not affected by the blaze.
Meanwhile, as the fire started to spread, a number of persons flocked the area and pleaded with a few Chinese nationals who were at the scene, to open the store so that they could remove the items before they burned to ashes.
“Yuh rather it burn when yuh can give we it. Open the grill leh we go in nah, open it nah,” both men and women pleaded with the police ranks and the owner.
When the crowd became out of control, a number of new recruits were called to the scene to cordon off the area so that the fire-fighters could have performed their duties without any disturbances.
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