The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) has acknowledged that the lack of water in nearby hydrants hampered fire-fighters battling the blaze that claimed the lives of four persons at New Amsterdam last month.
In a press release, the GFS said that an investigation into the Charlotte Street, New Amsterdam inferno revealed that the town’s fire station received a call at 2:02am on January 24 from a joint services rank, who was informed about the fire by a neighbour.
The statement said that the GFS arrived at the scene within three minutes though owing to the “time lost factor”, on the arrival of the first response crew, the entire first floor, which housed the resting rooms for the family, was engulfed in flames. It stated that on the commencement of operations, firefighters began working from their tank supply and since the supply was limited, they attempted to source water from nearby hydrants. “That proved futile since there was no water in the system. Firefighters were then forced water from a nearby chamber but that also provided for a limited time of firefighting,” the GFS declared.
It added that the firemen eventually resorted to accessing water from the Republic Avenue canal though they first had to clear portions of the canal of overgrowth and garbage to achieve a successful flow of water.
The fire fighters at New Amsterdam, who responded to the fire, must be commended, when one considers the fact that a fire of such magnitude was contained to the building of origin, the release asserted, while stating that all concerned must consider safety as equally important as security.
This newspaper had previously reported on the issue with the hydrants. Sources had disclosed that 46 new hydrants had been installed around New Amsterdam within recent times but they are reportedly non-functional and water can only be accessed from some of the hydrant pits. It was stated that the contractors did a poor job during the installation of the emergency pipes which has never been corrected.
The January 24 fire had ripped through the two-flat wooden and concrete house around 1:40 am leaving the owner of Persaud’s Funeral Home, Ivor Persaud, 63; his wife Patsy Persaud, 60 and their grandchildren, nine-year-old Melissa and five-year-old Armand, dead. Post-mortem examinations performed on their charred remains proved that they died from smoke inhalation.
The GFS statement did not say whether its investigations had determined the cause of the fire. The statement expressed the fire service’s condolences to the relatives and friends of the Persauds.
Further, the GFS added that it is constantly working through its budgetary allocation to improve its overall response capabilities and stated that it is cognizant of the government’s commitment to this cause pointing to the allocation in this year’s budget for the procurement of fire tenders, an aircraft crash tender, a water carrier and other support equipment.
