Residents of Wallers Delight, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara, were in fear for their safety and property for several hours yesterday after a section of a utility pole burst into flames after sparking menacingly for several hours.
A resident of the area called Stabroek News last evening to report the fire after her attempts to contact the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. failed. The young woman said she noticed that the wires connected to the pole began sparking at about 14:00hrs yesterday.
The resident, and several others reportedly, immediately called GPL’s office in Vreed-en-Hoop, and then the Georgetown office after no one from Vreed-en-Hoop responded. When Stabroek News spoke to the resident around 19:25hrs last evening, she said that GPL operatives still had not visited the area to address the situation.
GPL, however, says otherwise. When this newspaper called the Vreed-en-Hoop office last evening one of the company’s representatives said that numerous reports had been made, and that a team had been dispatched to the area to deal with the matter. He was unable though, to say exactly what time the team was dispatched.
The sparking pole reportedly sent the flow of electricity in the area into a state of flux, causing electric surges, low voltages, and finally a power outage.
The woman said she eventually decided to turn off her main switch in an effort to prevent damage to her electric appliances, and to prevent an electric fire from starting in her home.
The fire lasted for about fifteen minutes, the resident said, but died eventually after the power went out.
