Investigators combing through the debris in the aftermath of the blaze at the Brickdam Police Station on Saturday have found evidence of fire extinguishers being used to initially fight the fire.
Divisional Fire Officer Haimchandra Persaud yesterday told Stabroek News that during the firefighting on Saturday and investigations on Sunday, empty cylinders of the fire suppressant were found.
“So, of course I did [see] extinguishers that were used, empty ones were in the vicinity. Of course everything went down but when we checked we saw extinguishers that were used but as I said, if [at] the incipient stage whatever is available is insufficient, the fire department has to get involved,” Persaud said, explaining that as the fire grew out of control, the efforts of first responders were in vain.
Questioned further on whether the fire service has been able to establish where the fire originated, he responded in the negative.
The Divisional Officer said while they do have some leads, investigators are currently working to ascertain clearly the origin of the blaze.
“…We had some initial leads where it was but we are still working to determine by putting all the facts together to conclusively say where it actually originated,” he said.
The fire started shortly after 11 am in the upper flat of an eastern building in the compound, according to Commissioner of Police Nigel Hoppie. About two hours later, nearly 80% of the decades-old structures in the compound were destroyed.
The police on Sunday said a 26-year-old robbery suspect, Clarence Greene, who was taken into custody on Saturday has confessed to setting the fire
Meanwhile, questions have been raised as to whether the station was equipped with a fire alarm, a sprinkler facility, fire hoses and sand buckets. Commander of Region 4 ‘A’ Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean yesterday said every department was outfitted with extinguishers. However, he said that by time he got to the scene, minutes after the fire was reported, it was past the stage for initial firefighting protocols to be implemented. “My firefighting training states that initial firefighting is where you aim to contain the fire while it is small and confined to a corner but when I got there it was way past what I was trained for,” he explained.
Following Saturday’s devastating fire which gutted the historic century-old structure, the barracks room, which is the oldest building in the compound, the Impact Base and the station lock-ups were the only structures that were not destroyed. The latter two were built with clay bricks.
The performance of the Guyana Fire Service has been severely criticised by President Irfaan Ali, who addressed the issue on Sunday morning after visiting the scene. Ali blasted firefighters and warned that their lax approach will not be tolerated.
“The response of the fire service was poor, at its best, yesterday, and as President, I hope that the fire service can acknowledge this because if you can’t acknowledge the problem, you can’t deal with it,” he said.
Ali said that with the fire occurring a stone’s throw away from the GFS’s main station at Stabroek, it was appalling to see the response from firefighters.
“This is less than three minutes’ walk to a main fire station. We cannot continue as a country and as a people to not address these issues. We can’t continue to make investments and not have the return on the investments. Whether it is in the public service, in the hospitals, the inefficiency has to be weeded out. If you don’t want to perform public service then do the honourable thing, don’t take a job in the fire department and believe it is a part-time job. Don’t take the government assets, your safety gear, and leave it home and you are an emergency worker,” he emphasised.
