A raging fire yesterday burnt a structure of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) located on Lombard Street Georgetown, which was supporting one of their primary distribution feeders from the Kingston and Vreed-en-Hoop power plants, a GPL release stated.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) last night said that it is believed that the fire was maliciously set.
The fire which erupted in a dilapidated vacant wooden two-storey building at about 10:56 am yesterday resulted in the GPL structure being damaged and causing a power outage to its customers on the East Coast, East Bank, West Bank and other areas.
“This fire was an unfortunate incident that resulted in the destruction of a primary network structure and consequently the disruption of service to customers…This destruction of the critical network component triggered the protection systems at our Vreed en Hoop Power Plant, resulting in the generators going offline. This sudden loss of generation resulted in a cascading effect at our Kingston Power Plants resulting in service disruptions to customers in sections of Georgetown (up to Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara) and West Demerara. Customers along East Bank of Demerara, East Coast of Demerara and Berbice were not affected,” the release explained.
It noted that restoration efforts commenced immediately after the fire was brought under control, which resulted in the power being restored to some areas some time after. “Restoration efforts commenced immediately and at approximately 11:13 hrs, the first area in Georgetown was repowered. Incremental restoration continued until all areas in Georgetown and West Demerara were repowered at approximately 12:51 hrs.”
Up to press time late last night, sections of the burnt out wooden building still contained small pockets of fire.
Meanwhile, the GFS said that it received a call at 10:55 am yesterday morning.
Water tenders #85 and #105, along with two water carriers from the Central and West Ruimveldt fire stations, were dispatched to the location, with the first appliance arriving on scene at 10:59 a.m.
The GFS said that the structure involved was an unoccupied two-storey wooden and concrete building owned by the Robinsons.
Firefighting efforts were greatly impeded due to electricity still being connected to the building, which posed a threat to firefighters.
Several calls were made to GPL to have the power disconnected, but this took some time.
As a result of the fire, the building and its contents were destroyed.
The purported cause of the fire is a malicious setting by person(s) unknown, the GFS said.
Also affected was a one-flat wooden building also located at Lot 13 Lombard Street and situated on the northern side of the building of origin.
Due to radiated heat the entire southern wall was severely damaged.
Further, a metal container owned by John Fernandes Ltd. was affected after flying embers from the building of origin came into contact with some wood and ignited.
Four jets working from water tenders #85 and #105 and the two water carriers’ tank supplies were used to extinguish the fire.
