– fire officers to take closer at earlier blaze
Investigations into the cause of Sunday’s early morning fire have so far yielded one eyewitness who has provided information which suggests that the fire may have been deliberately set, a senior fire official disclosed yesterday.
Sunday’s fire, which erupted at Household Plus, destroyed that store as well as Chino Variety, Fullworths General Store and Wireless Connections. Slim Jet was also affected in the blaze. Stabroek News understands that the eyewitness reportedly heard an explosive sound and saw someone fleeing from the vicinity of Household Plus moments before the blaze started. The official, however, said that the investigations are continuing and it was too early to pronounce definitively on the issue. Members of the fire service yesterday went through debris and took statements from persons.
Meanwhile, investigations are still ongoing into the fire which took place two Fridays ago on Regent Street which destroyed several buildings. The fire completely destroyed Regent Household Electronics, the bond behind the building, and the home of an elderly man and his reputed wife, while gutting the top flat of DM Beauty World. This fire had started at Household Electronics.
According to the senior fire official, initial investigations suggested that this fire was electrical in origin. However, the official said that given recent developments this investigation will come under greater scrutiny seeing that two brothers had property destroyed in each of the fires.
Household Electronics was owned by Shaheed Hamid and his brother Nazir was the proprietor of Household Plus.
When approached yesterday Shaheed Hamid said he was advised by his lawyer not to speak to the media until investigations are completed. According to him, “it looks bad now” that his brother’s business was destroyed in a fire shortly after his. The businessman told this newspaper he has a lot to say but will wait until the investigations are completed to do this, even if it meant putting an advertisement in the newspaper.
Meanwhile, a visit yesterday to the scene of the Sunday’s fire saw the affected area between Orange Walk and Cummings Street still barricaded and two police officers keeping watch. Many curious passersby stopped to look at the remains of the burnt buildings while some stopped to offer their condolences to the owners of the properties.
Proprietor of Wireless Connections Maxwell Thom, who was present, was still contemplating the next move for his business. He said the ordeal had quite an impact on him. He still could not estimate how much was lost in the inferno. However, it clearly was not business as usual for the establishment since the Bourda Market branch of Wireless Connections was closed yesterday.
One of the owners of the buildings which housed Chino Variety and Wireless Connections was yesterday still upset that his buildings were not saved. He held on firmly to the view that had there been a steady water supply his buildings could be saved. He too is unsure about the future.
Hydrants
Meanwhile, the two recent fires have once again raised questions about the proper functioning of fire hydrants in the city. On Sunday, the shortage of water proved to be a major hindrance to outing the blaze.
Fire fighters on the scene were forced to source water from canals on North Road and South Road after the 4,000 gallons of water which the tenders carried was not enough. However, about 45 minutes to an hour later, the North Road canal became silted up to the point where it could no longer be used. Stabroek News was reliably informed that there were no working hydrants near the scene of the fire.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle told this newspaper on Sunday that the issue of functioning hydrants was brought up earlier this year but seemed to have come to a standstill. He said while hydrants are a great help in fighting fires, for them to be effective they needed to provide large volumes at high pressure. He explained that there was nothing procedurally wrong with getting water from canals once they weren’t silted up. Following appeals by the Fire Service, work has been done in desilting several of the canals in the various areas of the country, Gentle said.
As it relates to the maintenance of hydrants, there seems to be some uncertainly as to which entity is responsible for maintaining them. Fire officials told Stabroek News this was the responsibility of Guyana Water Inc (GWI).
However, when contacted yesterday Public Relations Officer of GWI Timothy Austin said the water utility was not responsible for maintaining hydrants. He advised this newspaper to contact the Public Works Ministry or the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).
Efforts to contact the Transport and Hydraulics Minister Robeson Benn yesterday were unsuccessful.
Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green told this newspaper yesterday that the maintenance of hydrants was not the responsibility of the municipality. According to him, the M&CC simply did not have the resources or the technical skills to maintain hydrants. He said this had been raised with the Home Affairs Minister years ago, while he was a member of the water utility’s board and a decision was to be made. According to the mayor, the water utility company was reluctant to take over this responsibility, but no firm decision on the matter had been communicated to him even though he has repeatedly asked for one.
When Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee was asked which entity was responsible for maintaining hydrants he advised this newspaper to consult the law books. When asked if he was concerned about the absence of working fire hydrants in the city, the minister said he will address this matter later this week.
Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali said that the responsibility for maintaining hydrants would be that of several entities including the Ministry of Public Works, the Housing and Water and Home Affairs ministries and the M&CC.