A fire of unknown origin destroyed more than an estimated 80% of the Brickdam Police Station on Saturday, dealing a huge blow to the operations of the Guyana Police Force in the capital city.
The century-old structure housed the headquarters for Region 4A, which spans from Cummings Lodge to Agricola, and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) last evening sought to assure citizens that operations would not be affected as it announced that temporary offices and outposts have since been established at the nearby Stanislaus College.
While there were no casualties, GPF spokesman Mark Ramotar last night said a few police ranks received minor injuries during their efforts to aid in fighting the fire. They were all treated. A total of 16 prisoners who were in custody at the time were all accounted for and safely relocated, while all of the firearms and ammunition that were at the police station at the time were quickly secured, he added.
At an emergency press conference yesterday afternoon, Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie disclosed that the fire started around 11.06am in the upper flat of an eastern building in the compound.
He said the fire quickly spread to several other buildings, resulting in the destruction of the inquiries office, the traffic department, the officers’ mess, the prosecutors’ office, the offices of the commander and deputy commander and that of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). In addition to the buildings, other assets, such as records and a number of privately-owned vehicles which were part of ongoing investigations, were also destroyed.
The barrack room, which is the oldest building in the compound, the impact base and the station lock-ups were the only buildings that were not destroyed. The latter two were built with clay bricks.
The fire posed a threat to several buildings on Hadfield Street, George-town including a number of law offices and the National Toshaos’ Council Secretariat. The owners of some of the buildings ended up soaking them to prevent the fire from spreading.
Firefighters were largely able to contain the fire, except for a building situated south of the police station, which was also destroyed by the fire.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS), which came in for withering criticism over its response, has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the fire.
In a brief statement yesterday, the GFS said the control room received a call around 11.03am about the fire. Three fire tenders from the Central Fire Station initially responded and they were subsequently assisted by five other tenders.
At the press conference, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn said “about 80 or more per cent” was destroyed in terms of the building. “There is [the] loss of vehicles, some equipment, some exhibits, both motorcycles and cars and some other items which are exhibits. Work will have to be done to reconstruct some files which were lost,” he said.
Hoppie and Police Commander of Region 4A Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean assured citizens, particularly those in Georgetown, that the operations of the police would not be affected by the fire.
Hours after, Ramotar announced that temporary police offices/outposts have been set up at the St. Stanislaus College to deal with reports and other police-related matters.
Benn said officials are already engaging engineers on designs for the reconstruction of the Brickdam Police station. “We have already told them to think now in terms of what we need for temporary location and in terms of a design for a new police headquarters building for 4A at Brickdam. So certainly, they will be back,” Benn said.
On a daily basis, close to 300 ranks operate from the Brickdam police station compound.
Hoppie explained that relocation will take place immediately and measures will be taken to ensure that all ranks who were stationed at the Brickdam Police Station remain on duty.
The acting Top Cop further assured members of the public, especially those in Region 4A that they should not fear about their safety. “Systems are already in place to ensure that peace and order will prevail in district 4A,” he said.
To this end, McBean noted that street patrols will continue as per usual.
“…Operationally, we will continue to do our day-to-day operations in the streets of Georgetown, because most of our ranks were on the road on patrol when the incident happened. All our operational vehicles were saved so we don’t have an issue providing service to the community,” McBean explained.
Further, they said that the 911 emergency hotline continues to be in operation.
Done
When Sunday Stabroek arrived at the scene yesterday, the roads surrounding the police station were cordoned off, resulting in traffic congestion in the city. A large crowd of spectators had gathered to get a glimpse of what was transpiring.
As the fire spread through the building and firefighters battled to contain it, loud explosions could have been heard coming from the building.
Police officers rushed for safety from the building. While some were seen running out with valuables in their hands, others were busy trying to contact their colleagues to ensure that they were not still in the burning building.
Among the vehicles destroyed in the compound was Quincy Bowman’s car.
Bowman explained to Sunday Stabroek that his car was impounded because of an issue with two of his documents, including the fitness.
He said after the fire started, he tried to get his vehicle out of the compound. “I try going in fah get people fah help me out cause the car wasn’t on fire at the time and they chase me out. They said no, leave it,” Bowman said.
Bowman said he used his car to earn an income and now he is not sure what he will do.
As the fire intensified, members of the public were heard screaming at the fire fighters to “work faster”. “This done. Done this done hay,” one man shouted as he rode by the scene.
As the fire spread to the south of the police station, tensions heightened at Hadfield Street as several buildings appeared to be under threat. Attorney Nigel Hughes soaked the building housing Hughes, Fields and Stoby with buckets of water through a window from the upper flat, while his wife, Cathy Hughes, hurriedly grabbed some documents.
Attorney Sase Gunraj, whose office is also nearby, was also fearful at the possibility that his building could also be destroyed.
GFS response
With the Central Fire Station located a short distance away from the Brickdam Police Station, the firefighters were subject to intense scrutiny, particularly as it relates to their response.
Hoppie said based on information received, the GFS arrived at the scene five to six minutes after they were summoned.
Asked whether he was satisfied with the GFS’ response, Benn told reporters that there will have to be an “after action” report “with respect to all the events that occured, the time they learnt of the fire, the assets which were deployed, the availability of water and the sources of water and the ranks and persons who were out there.”
Among the factors which seems to have hindered the firefighters yesterday were operational capacity and difficulty in sourcing water.
Benn said “a lot” of the firefighters present were actually not on duty.
Approached by the media at the scene, Fire Chief Kalamadeen Edoo initially indicated that he would speak but later did not say anything.
However, Hoppie noted that the firefighters were operating in a challenging environment while noting that there was heavy wind and the place was dry.
There were fire hydrants around the scene that was said to be in working order and despite calls for them to be activated, they were not.
In an invited comment, Gunraj told reporters that he would give members of the GFS a “failing grade” for their response to the fire. “…What I am seeing is gross incompetence. There are being pointed [to] fire hydrants that are in working order and simply have to be put into service and up to now — I have been out here for over an hour and no attempt has even been made to even look for fire hydrants,” he said.
“I have seen absolutely no effort made to contain that fire. I am not a firefighter. I don’t know what the technicalities are but of course, when I look at it I can’t see any tangible evidence of it being contained….There seems to be very specialized and technical equipment that is not being utilized and I don’t know why,” Gunraj added.
Among the fire hydrants that was said to be in working order was one situated in front of Hughes’ office.
In a Facebook post, Hughes later said that for an hour and a half while the fire was raging he and his wife informed law enforcement officials and some government officials of the functioning hydrant.
“The fire service including senior fire officers pointed to the blue paint on the hydrant and informed me in no uncertain terms that it was not working,” the post stated.
“The good and faithful people of Werk-en-rust deployed their own resources found their equipment and then came the water pouring out of the non-working fire hydrant. By this time both office buildings had caught afire and were extinguished by the bucket brigade consisting solely of the good and faithful residents of Werk-en-rust and those friends and clients who left their homes to help,” it added.