A fire erupted but was quickly extinguished at the Brickdam lockups yesterday after a prisoner lit a piece of toilet paper with a lighter he claimed to have found inside his cell, to deter mosquitoes that were biting him.
According to the police, when questioned about the incident that occurred around 06:40 hrs yesterday, prisoner Stephan Howard related that on entering the Brickdam lockups on Saturday, he discovered a lighter and a piece of toilet paper inside of the cell. He said because mosquitoes were biting him, he lit the piece of toilet paper and placed it on the cell’s door.
About 10 minutes later, he told the police, he realised that the toilet paper had fallen on the mattress on the floor of the cell, and it was aflame. However, he successfully extinguished it by throwing water from a plastic bottle he had.
According to the police, Howard then shouted out that the police should do what they had to do since he had nothing more to say. He refused to put his story in writing and also refused a video interview, police said. An entry was made in the station diary to this effect. Investigations are ongoing.
Fire Chief Gregory Wickham told Stabroek News that the Guyana Fire Service was alerted about the fire but found it had already been extinguished when they arrived.
The Brickdam Police Station was destroyed by fire in October 2021. Several ranks were injured during the firefighting efforts. Records, private vehicles and assets were destroyed in the fire. A Princes Street, Lodge man had confessed to setting fire to the building.
