A 52-year-old businessman is now counting his losses after a fire of unknown origin gutted a building which housed his workers and equipment at Kwakwani, Region Ten yesterday.
Reports are that the fire started around 11.45am.
The building was owned by Insham Ali Bacchus. It consisted of six rooms and housed a total of 24 workers. One of the rooms was self-contained and occupied by managers while another contained a quantity of equipment such as chainsaws, outboard engines and generators.
A Guyana Fire Service (GFS) source told Stabroek News that an investigation has since been launched to determine the cause of the fire.
In a telephone interview with Stabroek News yesterday, Bacchus said he received a call informing him of the fire. “I get a call that smoke coming through the roof. When the men them go now is fire, everything done,” he said.
The fire reportedly started in the front room of the building. At time of the fire, no one was in the building.
“The smoke start in the first room which no body was in. That was a self-contained room. The managers does really be in that room but everybody gone home for Easter” No one was in the building at the time,” Bacchus explained.
Bacchus estimated his losses to be around $18M.
He expressed dissatisfaction in the GFS response to the fire.
“When the fire truck arrive, it empty. No water. When he do go back and full and come back, the men on the fire truck don’t know how to operate the fire truck. Can’t get out the hose, can’t get out nothing. By the time they try to contain the fire within the six room, everything done burn,” he explained.
He is calling on the relevant authorities to address at the situation. “If we had a good fire service at least two or three room would have been burnt. The last room would have been saved. Which would have been the parts room. Everything gone,” Bacchus said.
