A fire of unknown origin completely gutted the historic Christianburg Magistrate’s Court today despite valiant efforts by the Linden Fire Service to quell the inferno.
It was shortly before 6 am that Sandy Leacock and another colleague (both from Section ‘C’ Christianburg) were heading to work when they noticed a cloud of smoke coming from the upper flat of the two-storey building and raised an alarm.
Leacock said that it was her friend who first spotted the smoke coming from the direction of the building and voiced her suspicion. “She show me de smoke and said it look like de court house on fire and I tell she nah man dat can’t be we court out on fire but she was right.. I thought that was the weeder man burning some heap or something in the yard…”
The eyewitness said that her worst fears were confirmed as they got closer to the building and noticed the thick smoke emanating from a room in the upper flat. She said that they raised an alarm and the few persons who lived close by came out but according to one neighbour “it all happen in the flash of a eye wink. We couldn’t do nothing, nothing at all.”
The Linden Legal Aid Centre which occupied the upper flat of the building has recorded significant losses according to an employee. Three computers, one laptop, office furnishings and hundreds of files and documents belonging to clients were burnt. Today, the centre was expected to represent over thirteen clients in court and these records are all now gone.
Persons on the scene said that realizing that there was nothing they could have done to save the building which was over 100 hundred years old they turned their efforts to trying to save another building that was in the compound.
Althea Perry, her husband and little daughter occupied the house and according to her husband, they do not sleep in the house very often and were not there at the time. The man said that he received a call at a few minutes to six indicating that the court house was on fire and he need to go and try to save their household effects as the house was threatened.
He said that by the time he got to the scene the entire upper flat of the building was engulfed and the fire was raging, posing a threat to his home. “We quickly bust open de door and tried to take out as much as we possibly could have but thank God the building was saved.”
Two fire tenders were promptly on the scene but their efforts to save any section of the wooden structure were futile. They made several trips back and forth refilling and soaking the building as they pumped water from the nearby Demerara River.
As the charred walls of the building started falling, “oohs and aahs” were heard from those on the scene, especially residents of Christianburg. Some persons were even moved to tears. “Everything for us is just being taken away”, one woman said as she struggled to hold back the tears. The building meant a lot to residents of the Christianburg community. Linden had its genesis at Christianburg as a result of the Pattersons who at the time operated a thriving lumber business in the area. The gutted building was their official residence. It was known as one of the major landmarks in Linden and of great value to residents of Christianburg.
It was one of the largest houses ever constructed in the area. Though this structure has been modified to accommodate the proceedings of the Court, many of its architectural features such as the brick columns, wooden jalousie windows and timber shutters are still visible. The tombstones of the family of the original owners of the building still sit at the entrance of the compound.
Over the years in addition to housing the Magistrate’s Court, the building was used as the Regional Guest House and it accommodated the Linden Care Foundation. At the time of the fire the Linden Legal Aid Centre, Probation and Family Welfare Unit and the Christianburg Magistrate’s court were accommodated in the building.
Regional Chairman Mortimer Mingo said that the Regional Democratic Council moved swiftly to assist the police department in locating a facility to house today’s court proceedings until a more suitable location could be identified. Court is usually held every Tuesday and Wednesday. Court sessions are being held at the Christianburg Community Centre today.
Mingo said that he is aware that even prior to the destruction of the building today, plans were well afoot for the construction of a new building to house the court. He told this newspaper that his office signed documents releasing a plot of land for the building. He however expressed grave concern about securing an appropriate facility to house the LLA centre which according to him, provided much needed services to residents who could ill afford to hire the services of a private attorney-at-law.
