An electric fan’s motor overheated and caused the fire which destroyed the upper flat of a Duncan Street, Campbellville building on Wednesday afternoon, Fire Chief Kalamadeen Edoo says.
Contacted for an update yesterday, Edoo told Stabroek News that an investigation into the fire has revealed that the electric fan’s motor ignited and spread to nearby combustible materials, resulting in the fire.
The fan was in one of the two apartments situated on the upper flat, Edoo said.
Fans have recently been cited as being behind a number of fires, raising questions as to what the authorities are doing to ensure that the public is aware of which brands may be causing these.
Stabroek News had reported that the fire started around 2pm on Wednesday at Lot 248 Duncan Street, Campbellville, Georgetown.
The bottom flat of the building houses a vulcanizing shop while the other flats comprise nine apartments. At the time, only one of the apartments was occupied by a foreign national. He was not at home when the fire started.
Quick response by the Guyana Fire Service prevented the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.
The owner of the building, Forbes Garraway had told reporters that he was in one of the apartments when he started to smell smoke. He said that his neighbour then phoned him and told him that smoke was coming from the upper flat of the building.
Garraway said he immediately took two fire extinguishers and rushed upstairs. “I go upstairs with two fire extinguishers because I got like ten of it. I get into the apartment but the fire was in the room of itself. I slam down the door and it was a big, huge oven and I couldn’t have done nothing about it,” he added.
According to Garraway, the smoke was too much so he was forced to exit the flat.
