A fire of unknown origin gutted the Christ Church Secondary School on Camp and Middle streets yesterday afternoon, just days after combustion in a lab had to be quelled.
The blaze which started at about 5:15pm has left 502 students, 39 teachers and 9 ancillary staff displaced and will raise growing concerns about protection of schools and other government buildings in the aftermath of a spate of suspicious fires.
Amid claims of the school being set on fire deliberately, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn said that “There is information which the police are working on as we speak.”
Stabroek News arrived at the scene at the same time as the Guyana Fire Service, at approximately 5:25pm. A few minutes later, Guyana Power and Light technicians arrived and disconnected the power from the school. At this time only smoke could be seen emanating from the section of the building situated on Camp Street. The fire-fighters then entered the building in an effort to identify the exact location of the fire. Thick smoke billowed for approximately 25 minutes while the fire service was trying to locate an adequate supply of water.
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, arrived on the scene at about 5:35pm, and set about consoling teachers who were visibly distressed. At 5:40 pm the smoke engulfed the area and it was difficult to see the building. By this time, fire-fighters had managed to locate a water source and proceeded to drench the part of the building that appeared to be mostly affected at the time. Since it was a two-storey wooden and concrete building, the fire then spread to various parts of the building, racing through the section of the school that is situated on Middle Street. At this point, loud explosions could be heard, causing onlookers to run for cover.
The police who were present, cordoned off the area in the interest of safety since the area was filled with children from different schools making their way home, while the fire was raging and explosions could still be heard. The fire ravaged the buildings within minutes and at this point, four fire tenders from the GFS were on the scene, along with one from the Guyana Prison Service. At 5:50pm the flames were in full force while firefighters battled to put out the fire though the supply of water was clearly limited.
The upper flat of the building was completely destroyed while the ground floor was gutted.
Satina Ganesh, who lives opposite the school on Middle Street, related to Stabroek News her traumatizing experience on Thursday afternoon when the fire started. “The smoke was too much we couldn’t take it and we drop everything and ran through the back to get out of the house.”
Two teachers were in tears as they witnessed the school going up in flames. Two fifth form students who were at the scene expressed concern about their SBA’s that went up in flames in addition to their CXC Examinations that are due to be written within a few months. Manickchand however, consoled the two students and assured them a plan would be implemented to ensure their sitting of the CXC Examinations. Manickchand added that the Caribbean Examinations Council is currently being engaged concerning the situation and some possible alternatives were communicated that will be examined and executed.
“Every time a school is destroyed, children lose not only for the days that they can’t attend, but for their entire lives. It’s our duty to find a way to minimise as much as we can, the loss that has happened here. We are stretched thin, there were two fires at St. George’s and North Ruimveldt in Georgetown and we are stretched for space. Additionally the cash grant has helped us to see more children coming to school which is something we all should want.”
Manickchand added that St. Winifred and East Ruimveldt are overflowing with children as a result of schools being destroyed by fires in Georgetown.
“Additionally we have problems with SBAs and we are talking to CXC right now about what options we can have to ensure that the children whose SBAs got destroyed there or their lab books, that we could put them in the best position possible for the sitting of their exams in a few months’ time. It is very difficult to accommodate a whole big school without a whole big school available and none is empty right now.”
The Education Minister had a message for the students of Christ Church, “To the students of Christ Church, I say this let’s stand together, this is your chance to show the world, to show everyone that the fire is not going to stop you. Put your head down in the next few months those of you who are in fifth form, those of you who are in fourth form put your heads down concentrate on your work and let’s rise up from this together because we can do it, we want you to know that you are going to get all of the support you need from us materially as well as emotionally in terms of your preparation and our conversations with the examining body, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), but this is not going to break any of us. All the students, all the teachers, parents who are worried tonight just know that we are working even as we speak, to try to make your children’s education as regular as possible.”
A possible option for children of Christ Church to temporarily continue their learning process is to do so under tents and in temporary buildings, opined Manickchand.
Minister of Home Affairs Benn said he learnt about the fire just as he was leaving Port Kaituma to head to Georgetown.
“I spoke to Minister Manickchand and she told me that it was a difficult situation and we got here as fast as we can and in between we were ensuring that enough assets are responding”, he said.
Benn made a general call for all communities, parents and children in the country to stand in support of the education system and to keep a watch on the nation’s assets, especially the education infrastructure. He added, “It would appear passing strange and it would test probability, that within two or three weeks we can have a fire at the same building at a prominent location in Georgetown where hundreds of children are working on their SBAs and other things. We cannot afford the loss of these assets, and we cannot afford the loss of the opportunities the children have to reach to the level we want them to reach in their education.’’
The Home Affairs Minister appealed to the media to broadcast the call for help to protect the nation’s assets, “I am appealing with the media too to put out the call to help us to protect the nation’s assets.” He emphasized that it is very much strange for such to happen within a short period of time at the same place. “I am not speculating, I am merely saying that it’s passing strange and it’s a tremendous blow and it is unusual in itself that we have had a number of fires at large schools in the country, all over the country from Mabaruma to Georgetown to other places. The spike in the number of fires at schools itself has to tell us something.”
He further stated that better fire prevention methods must be enforced accompanied by training and awareness in schools. “The taxes we pay at this rate will not keep up with what is going on to replenish the educational stock”, he said.
On January 4th, the fire service rushed to Christ Church around 4:30 pm after receiving information that smoke was emanating from the building. According to the Chief Fire Officer, Gregory Wickham, although initially believing it was a fire, investigations found that several chemicals being stored in the Science laboratory were released and caused a combustion.
The chemicals were subsequently removed from the building.
Also present at the scene of the fire yesterday were Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy; Chief Education Officer, Saddam Hussain; and Assistant Chief Education Officer, Tiffany Harvey.
