By Adrian Dey
Although his after-action report suggested that proper fire-fighting equipment would have made the task easier for the GFS on the night of the tragic Mahdia dormitory blaze, Sub-officer Ryan Scott maintained that his team did their best given the circumstances.
Scott, who is stationed at the Mahdia Fire Station, yesterday informed the ongoing presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the tragedy that he and his staff who consisted of auxiliary fire-fighters were informed late of the inferno which claimed 20 lives. The Mahdia Fire Station, according to the officer, does not have a telephone and that communication is done through cellphone.
The inquiry was informed that officials from the Guyana Fire Service’s (GFS) central location in Georgetown had to inform fire officials in Mahdia of the burning building via cellphone.