The Guyana Fire Service was yesterday able to contain a small fire at the University of Guyana’s Faculty of Health Sciences.
Stabroek News understands that the fire occurred just after 10 am yesterday, when a generator exploded in the Digicel-owned generator room, located on the southern side of the recently refurbished Faculty of Health Sciences building on the Turkeyen campus.
Though there were no reported injuries, the fire affected the back stairwell of the building, resulting in water and smoke damage in the vicinity.
Andrew Holder, Fire Prevention Officer of the Guyana Fire Service, in an invited comment said that the explosion may have stemmed from an unsuitable petroleum storage tank and an overheated generator.
“The material the storage tank was built out of is not the right material for a petroleum storage tank; it was a plastic tank which is commonly used for transportation of petroleum not continuous storage,” Holder said.
“It would seem that the storage tank was too close to the generator set, and the generator was running for a continuous time, overheated, melted the plastic tank, causing fuel to escape which must have gotten into the generator enclosure resulting in an explosion,” he added.
Meanwhile, the University of Guyana, in a statement explained that following news of the incident, Vice-Chancellor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, who is away on official business, received a call from the Chief Executive Officer of Digicel Guyana, Kevin Kelly, who apologised for the damage and the inconvenience caused to the university community by the fire.
The vice chancellor took the opportunity to commend the Guyana Fire Service for their professionalism while also extending gratitude for their being no injuries.
“He also thanked UG’s Security and Estates Management teams, and members of his Cabinet for their swift and effective action, and looks forward to having Digicel repair all damage… quickly,” the statement added.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Michael Scott, who is the Officer-in-Charge of the university in the absence of the Vice Chancellor, said that, “the University stands committed to ensuring the safety and security of students and staff and following the advice of Fire Prevention Officer of the Guyana Fire Service, Andrew Holder, the university would undertake a fire audit of all its facilities.”
Meanwhile, the Administration wishes to assure members of the university and wider community that instructional and other activities at Turkeyen are back to normal.
