-two injured
A convicted prisoner on Monday set fire to a mattress at the Georgetown Prison resulting in injuries to him and another inmate.
A release on Monday from the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) said that “catastrophe was avoided” when the fire set by the convicted prisoner “of unsound mind” was quickly extinguished at the Lot 12 Camp St, Werk-en-Rust penitentiary..
“Prisoner Delon Blake, who is serving 20 years for rape, allegedly lit his mattress at approximately 14:00 hours in his cell of the security block of the prison”, the GPS said.
It added that Officer in Charge of the Georgetown Prison, Senior Superintendent Olivia Cox reported that the situation was quickly brought under control by the officers on duty at the prison.
Blake and another inmate, Christopher Stanley, who is also of unsound mind, were immediately taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for medical treatment.
According to release yesterday from the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), it received the call at 14.10 hours and responded promptly with the first units arriving on the scene by 14.16 hours. In all, a total of 18 firefighters attended the call.
The release informed that the incident occurred in a three-storey concrete and metal building within the Camp Street Prison complex. The fire resulted in the destruction of one mattress and a quantity of clothing. It was also reported that Stanley, 25, suffered second-degree burns on various parts of his body, while Blake, 35, sustained first-degree burns to his upper right shoulder.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the fire was started by an inmate who lit a mattress using a lighter, which then ignited nearby combustible materials. Further investigations are ongoing to determine the full circumstances surrounding the incident, the GFS said.
Before the arrival of the fire service, prison officers used several dry chemical extinguishers to extinguish the fire. As such, the GFS commended the quick actions of the prison officers in using extinguishers to contain the fire and minimise further damage before the fire crews arrived.
In light of the aforementioned incident, GFS is urging all institutions to review their fire safety protocols and ensure that fire prevention and suppression equipment is readily available and maintained, the release added.
The GPS has suffered from serious fires in the past including at the Camp Street prison. Its original building was levelled by one such fire. That a prisoner supposedly of unsound man was able to gain access to a lighter and set a fire will raise serious questions.
