Carelessness, settling disputes leading causes of fires
CHIEF Fire Officer Marlon Gentle said Monday that the two leading causes of fires in Guyana, from the numbers so far, are carelessness and disputes. He also exhorted all citizens – in the event of a fire – to notify the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), in a timely manner, thus enabling them to act swiftly and contain the blaze.

The Fire Chief said the disputes, to which he referred, could be from family disagreements, over land or other property.

Gentle said some fires also occur in a malicious setting where people act out of malice compounded and commit arson to cover up a crime or for gain.

He, however, appealed to the public to stop the wanton use of fire as too many properties are going up in smoke.

A lot of social issues cause unwarranted disasters, Gentle observed, like a man setting his house alight, in a fit of rage, because his wife did not cook dinner.

He cited the example of the Easter Monday incident, at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, where a man burned his house and is presently before the Court, after another domestic quarrel.

Gentle also spoke about the  fire at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, where a man was burnt to death following a spat with his wife.

“The only thing that does hamper us in the fight against fires is the late call we, usually, receive when a fire breaks out,” he pointed out, noting that the GFS can only respond when called.

“We dispatch our tenders and team as we receive the call,” Gentle stated.

He suggested that people think rationally and look at other ways of settling issues.
Gentle told the Guyana Chronicle that, despite what is being peddled in some sections of the media, the GFS has been working and has made some good interventions, such as the rescue of two children from a burning building in King Street, Georgetown, recently, when their father was also taken out of the house.

Other successes he mentioned were at a gasolene station and a sawmill on West Demerara, where the flames were contained.

Alluding to the El Nino period, he said there was an increase in vegetation fires, numbering 800, mostly started by people.

Giving statistics, Gentle said, up to March 15, the GFS recorded 354 grass fires; 51 buildings destroyed; 11 more badly damaged; 28 with slight damage;156 persons left homeless and two deaths after receiving 809 calls.

The GFS has 13 stations countrywide and two more, at Bartica and Rose Hall are expected to be commissioned soon, he disclosed.