QUICK action by students and teachers averted major fire damage at Queen’s College (QC), at Camp and Thomas Roads, in Georgetown, yesterday.
The blaze had started just after 10:00 hrs in an Upper Sixth Form classroom, located in the western wing of the buildings. Acting Headteacher, Ms. Nadia Hollingsworth said it was electrical in origin, as a result of rain water dripping into a light fixture and causing the spark.
“The sixth formers alerted the teachers and some of the male sixth form students and teachers put out the fire as best they could with extinguishers,” she reported.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) responded promptly and ranks on four tenders supported efforts to ensure that there was no significant destruction to that part of the edifice.
Hollingsworth said the students were evacuated in a timely manner and allowed to return to their classes as soon as it was deemed safe by the GFS.
In November 1997, a large part of the original structure was destroyed when flames burned through the three-storey centre block, which housed the auditorium, offices and dining hall. The destruction was estimated to cost $200M but extensive reconstruction was done six years later.