Although the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) probe has concluded that the blaze that destroyed two Laparkan Shipping storage bonds on Lombard Street, Georgetown was an act of arson, the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) yesterday said that at no point during a joint review of surveillance footage was there any “conclusive evidence” to support the claim.
The company yesterday made this disclosure in a statement issued to provide “clarity” after what it described as “misleading” and “inaccurate” reports published by some media houses.
Fire Chief (ag) Gregory Wickham on Thursday told Stabroek News that GFS investigators concluded that the fire, which started just before midnight on Sunday, was an act of arson. “The cause is malicious setting by person or persons unknown,” Wickham confirmed.
He said the matter handed over to the police for further investigation.
However, GNIC yesterday said the wharf and bond are monitored by a 24-hour CCTV system. “Central to this system is the positioning of a wide range of cameras in a number of strategic areas on the Wharf and Bond among other,” the statement said.
GNIC added that during the course of its own investigation, the footage was reviewed and handed over to the relevant authorities.
“It is rather strange that during the joint review there [was] no conclusive evidence of the alleged arson which seems to be now circulating in the press by certain Media Houses,” it said, before noting that it is in the process of obtaining an official report on the findings “backed by evidence thereof of the Fire and those activities that follows from this particular catastrophe.”
As a result, it requested that the media refrain from making “allegations and/or unsubstantiated claim about this particular incident to all and sundry.”
The GFS had also said that the bonds had no means of fire prevention. “There were no smoke detectors, fire extinguishers or fire hoses installed in the building,” it detailed in a statement after the fire.
However, GNIC denied this claim, stating that the company has a fire prevention system in place. “GNIC wishes to state categorically that its Fire Prevention System meets the basic requirements of the Statutory Safety and Fire Requirements inclusive of a Fire Plan and Response Mechanisms,” it explained.
In fact, they said an “adequate” complement of fire extinguishers are installed in all of the departments. The equipment, it added, is monitored and controlled by a Health and Safety Officer who was formerly in the employ by the GFS.
The company further denied that access to the bond where the fire is suspected to have started and where fire equipment were stored was constrained since it was a Customs bonded area. Instead, it said the area was dual controlled.
Additionally, GNIC said that claims that the fire might have been caused by improper storage of chemicals is “totally false” and “without substance.”
“GNIC operates a specialized facility for the storage of chemicals. That facility was designed and constructed under the auspices of the Environmental Protection Agency, which has since provided the necessary approval for the storage facility,” the statement noted.
Millions of dollars in cargo were destroyed in the fire, which started at approximately 11.30pm.
The GFS had said that Laparkan Trading Company suffered the loss of a Bobcat machine, a quantity of office furniture, gas cylinders, crates of energy drinks, three 40-feet containers containing electrical cables and flex hoses, three electrical transformers and three 40-feet refrigeration containers.
It added that Tropical Shipping Company, which occupies a bond next to Laparkan, sustained water damage and minor fire damage. Propane cylinders, a quantity of barrels containing food stuff, clothing, household appliances and other items were destroyed.
Eleven vehicles were completely consumed by the inferno, 3 partially destroyed and 5 severely damaged.
It was a security guard who first observed the fire while he was making routine checks.
Wickham had said that the GFS received a phone call at 23.45 hrs and a single tender was responding. However, as they approached the scene firefighters observed a large tuft of smoke and flames, leading them to summon the five other water tenders and the fire boat.
“When the firefighters got here, they noticed flames were coming from the north eastern section of the wharf and teams were deployed to contain that blaze,” he explained.
While the massive fire was extinguished and contained in a “reasonable amount of time,” ranks had to monitor the scene throughout Monday as pockets of fire reignited.
