Residents of Roxanne Burnham Gardens were alarmed yesterday by a fire which scorched the fence of the New Guyana School at approximately 12:50 pm, according to a few bystanders.
A director of the private institution, who desired anonymity, told Stabroek News yesterday that the fire was set by someone in the community who was burning garbage indiscriminately on land close to the school.
“We were told that someone from the area was burning garbage indiscriminately at the opposite side of the school and the bushes were caught on fire, it eventually permeated towards several houses in the area but luckily no house was burnt,” the director told this newspaper.
“The only thing is that our fences as you see are scorched due to the magnitude of the fire and many of the classrooms are contaminated by smoke.”
A few officials from the school said that they are totally devastated at the situation but thankful that the building was untouched.
One teacher said she was unsure whether classes would be held as per normal, owing to the magnitude of the smoke which permeated many classrooms.
“I thank Jesus that nothing happened to our school. I am just concerned about the fence. But to God be the glory, He has been watching over our school,” another senior official at the school expressed.
Another teacher said, “for weeks we have seen garbage being burnt on these lands neighbouring to our school but today, apparently it was left unattended.”
Asked by this newspaper why this was not reported to the Mayor and City Council, residents could not say.
Meanwhile, Fire Inspector Javed Mohammed of the Guyana Fire Service said that firefighters who were on the scene before his arrival managed to prevent the fire from spreading to utility poles and neighbouring buildings.
“I arrived here at 2:40, but other ranks were on the scene earlier fighting the fire which started at the west and moved towards the east but they prevented it from spreading elsewhere,” Mohammed said.
Asked if burning garbage was indeed the cause of the fire, Mohammed said, “we cannot confirm nor say at this point, since it is rumoured, but we are going to launch an investigation shortly”.
He confirmed that no houses were burnt but residents felt the brunt of the massive smoke.
Mohammed said that due to the alacrity of the firefighting team everything was under control. “Yeah, the only challenges were the open-water sources, but the team managed to pull through,” he related.
