The fire that broke out at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) yesterday morning was said to have been started by one of the in-patients at the Psychiatric Ward who was arrested and afterward released back into the care of the institution.
The fire began minutes after nine in a room on the ground floor of the ward and while the blaze was prevented from spreading further, the heat and smoke emanating from the engulfed room caused damage to a nearby room. Quick action by the hospital staff saw the fire being contained until the arrival of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) who put out whatever was left of it.
According to police commander, Edgar Thomas, the suspect who was said to have started the fire, was staying in a room with five other in-patients. It was suggested by them that it was the suspect who was the one responsible for the fire.
Thomas further stated that the man was arrested by police stationed at the GPH Police Outpost but was released back into the care of the hospital.
Gregory Wickham, Divisional Officer for Operations of the GFS said that the fire was reported to them at 9:36. He praised the efficiency of the hospital staff for managing to contain the blaze using extinguishers. The fire department was said to have responded with five vehicles. The man also said that the staff were able to do this since the GFS had been training staff at the hospital in firefighting and first aid response.
Wickham noted that although they were able to get to the scene of the fire quickly, their time was impeded due to traffic. “I am appealing to members of the public, the motorists, please adhere to the siren and the (signals) of emergency vehicles. Our time was impeded because of these neglectful drivers who failed to adhere…along the route here. We had many missed-accidents and we don’t want that because we are putting people’s lives at risk, those [of our firemen] and even other users of the road. I’m also asking the traffic chief to pay attention to these issues with [these] reckless drivers on the road.”
An eyewitness who asked to remain anonymous shared that he was in the vicinity of the hospital conducting business. “Smoke started emerging from the window and we found out after that an inmate lit the fire. They said some kind of cigarette or something he was using and everybody started alerting people and evacuating the inmates…. the fire truck came shortly after. They spend lil time and out the fire. The guy that lit the fire, I saw him when they arrested him. He keep saying that he didn’t light the fire but they hold him in the lockups here. We normally know that these inmates does smoke and does get lighter and cigarettes”, the man said.
Information as to the origin of the fire and the estimated damage are still being investigated by the GFS.
