Police investigators have gathered additional statements from ranks who were on duty at the Brickdam Police Station on Saturday and they confirmed that the fire started in the said area as claimed by robbery accused, Clarence Greene.
This was confirmed by Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, who when contacted for an update yesterday informed Stabroek News that the High Court yesterday granted the police an extension to detain Greene for an additional 72 hours.
On Sunday, Greene reportedly confessed to setting the fire which destroyed more than 80 percent of the Brickdam Police Station.
Stabroek News was previously informed that Greene, who was taken into custody on Saturday morning for an alleged armed robbery confided in two other prisoners who were in the Brickdam lockups when the fire broke out.
During a video interview, Greene told investigators that one of the prisoners provided him with the piece of wire. He said he tore off a piece of sponge from a mattress in the cell he was in, hooked it on the wire and lit same with a lighter.
Greene then allegedly pushed the sponge on the wire through a ventilation hole to a section of the station which contained some documents. The sponge came into contact with the documents causing the fire.
It is unclear which section of the station that was.
Greene further told investigators that he committed the act since he was frustrated as he had been detained at Brickdam for several hours.
Police yesterday revisited the scene with Greene where they obtained a detailed recount of how the fire started.
In a statement on Sunday night, the police rejected the contents of an unnamed online media report which insinuated that the fire had not started in the way that the police had described it.
The police stuck by its version of the events.
It said that it should be noted that the subordinate officer who was one of the first responders to the alarm raised by other prisoners, observed smoke emanating from outside the air vents of the cell that the suspect who confessed to starting the fire was placed in.
“The smoke quickly turned into flames and the subordinate officer, together with one of the prisoners, immediately filled a bucket with water from a pipe in the lock-up and threw the water in the direction of the air vent in an effort to extinguish the fire,” the police said.
“Further, the subordinate officer also revealed that he saw a significant piece of the sponge was missing from the mattress that the suspect was given to sleep on”, the statement added.
During a press conference on Saturday, Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie said that the fire started around 11.06am in the upper flat of an eastern building in the compound.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) said that its operations will not be affected as temporary offices and outposts have been set up at the St. Stanislaus College.
