A fire suspected to be electrical in origin, yesterday morning ripped through the Senior Staff Club and Guest House, located in the Albion Estate Compound.
Firefighters were able to save the part of the building where the guest house was located. However, the club, dining area, and kitchen situated on the upper flat, along with the storage room on the lower flat of the building, were all destroyed in the blaze.
Officials at the estate, when contacted told Stabroek News, that they could not provide an estimate for the losses, since all of the bar records had been destroyed in the fire.
One manager said, that a guard was patrolling the compound, when he saw smoke and raised an alarm.
Security guard, Alvin Indardat, 49, said, that he was patrolling the eastern side of the compound around 4:25 am, when he saw smoke. He relayed that at first he thought the smoke was coming from the sugar factory, but upon taking a second look, he realized that the smoke was actually coming from a building in the compound.
He said that he rushed to the scene, where he saw smoke coming from the “middle part” of the senior staff club. He said that the “smoke was coming from upstairs in the club part.”
Indardat noted that he immediately raised an alarm and the estate’s fire tender was summoned to the scene.
Meanwhile, the Rose Hall Fire Service and the New Amsterdam Fire Service also responded to the fire. The fire tenders utilised water from a nearby trench to put out the fire, approximately one hour after arriving.
The estate and the fire service have both launched an investigation into the early morning fire.
According to a source at the estate, the fire supposedly started from an electrical outlet in the fully stocked bar which was located in the club.
A senior manager at the estate, who wished to remain anonymous, said that it is not likely that they will reconstruct the building in the near future, given GuySuCo’s financial situation at the moment. He noted that three persons who were scheduled to host events at the club will now have to seek alternative venues.
