Almost two months after a fire gutted the Shaheed Girls Orphanage at Oleander Gardens, East Coast Demerara, ranks at the Guyana Fire Service have closed their investigation, which ruled that the fire was an act of arson.
A source close to the investigation yesterday told Stabroek News that at the conclusion of the probe, it was determined that the fire was started by a female occupant of the orphanage.
The source said while no direct action was taken against the child, the Guyana Fire Service has made recommendations to the administrators of the orphanage.
“….In terms of counselling for the child and paying a close eye because I think she is still in the environment, so having an eyes out for her and her activities and so forth,” the source explained.
At about 6 am on October 20th, the two-storey Lot 7-8 Oleander Gardens building, which housed 18 girls and their caretaker, was reduced to ashes as a result of a fire.
Caretaker Shanti Pooran, 59, was alerted by an orphan of smoke emanating from the upper flat of the building.
Pooran raised an alarm after she was alerted about the fire and the Guyana Fire Service and police were summoned.
The building, which was not insured, housed the living quarters and prayer room on the upper flat and a kitchen and dining area on the lower flat.
From initial investigations, it was determined that the fire was not electrical in origin. “There were several theories or several bits of information that were given by the occupants of the building. At different points in the day, this information seems to be changing significantly… but what we know for sure at this point in time is that the fire is not electrical, which is one of the notions they are trying to put forward,” a source had previously explained. Investigators, the source had said, were able to conclude that the fire was set on the bottom flat of the eastern side of the building.
