A generator that caught fire yesterday at around 4.30 pm in the compound of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) at Plantation Diamond forced a halt to the company’s operations and damaged other generating sets.
The fire was eventually put out by fire-fighters who managed to prevent it from spreading to other buildings in the compound.
In a statement last night, the police said that initial investigations revealed that the Generator Room (a 60×60 concrete building located in the southeast of the DDL compound) houses seven generators, which power the entire compound.
Brian Deoraj, a 39-year-old engineer employed with the company, arrived at work and observed that one Cummings 3516 generator and one Caterpillar 3520 generator used to power the entire compound were not working to their optimal.
Sometime at about 4.20 pm, there was a power outage, which caused him and other staff members to proceed to check the Generator Room. On arrival, they observed that the Caterpillar generator was on fire.
An alarm was raised, and the Fire Service was informed. The Guyana Fire Service Fire Tender 92, under the command of sub-officer Lenander from Eccles Fire Station and 20 ranks, arrived on the scene and went into action.
Extensive damage was seen on all of the generators in the room and the top of the building. No one was injured.
Ravi Doobay, a farmer, who was inside the compound when the fire started, told Stabroek News that he had carried a supply of cherries to DDL for processing and while there, a fire suddenly started in the room that housed the generator. He added that the alarm then went off and there was smoke all over; the lights went off as well.
The farmer expressed concern as to whether the cherries would perish since up to late in the evening, power had not been restored to the building. He recalled that when the alarm went off, he along with other persons around were escorted to the back of the compound away from the fire and were permitted to leave until the fire was put out. He noted that the room was destroyed by the fire.
A plantain chip and beverage vendor, Alsiha Lewis, related to the Stabroek News that around 16:30 hours she was sitting at her stand when she observed smoke coming from the direction of DDL. The smoke then got thicker and thicker and eventually, the Guyana Fire Service showed up. She stated that the smoke filled the entire area and made it difficult for her to see and breathe.
