May fire at Uitvlugt was result of arson
CHIEF Fire Officer Marlon Gentle said yesterday that the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) has already reported that the May 17 disaster at Ocean View, Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara, was the result of arson.
He said the report was submitted to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) for investigations, as is done in every fire.
The May 17 conflagration gutted the home of pensioner Esaun Ishmael, 67, and Rayman Ishmael, 28, who were not there when it happened around 21:00 h.
But quick response from the nearby Fire Station and Police Station, both at Leonora, also on West Coast Demerara, resulted in the outer walls of the building being saved although all household items inside were destroyed.
The Ishmaels lost, among other things, a refrigerator, gas stoves, furniture, a television set, microwave, clothing, cash and a pension book, making a total loss estimated at $2.5M.
Police had, initially, arrested a woman suspect but later release her on bail.
Meanwhile, reporting on two other fires, Gentle said the recent one at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, in Kingston, was electrical in origin.
He said it started in a storeroom near a doctor’s office after some electrical problems and, given the age of the structure, it was quickly engulfed in flames.
However, he said the July 17, 2009 occurrence at the Ministry of Health, on Brickdam,  in Georgetown, too, was due to an act of arson.
Gentle said there was evidence that several incendiary devices had been used to start the blaze.