CHIEF FIRE OFFICER, Marlon Gentle said that although he cannot make a pronouncement as to the cause of the early morning fire which consumed the Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Officer Cadet School at Camp Stephenson, Timehri, East Bank Demerara on Tuesday, so far the blaze does not reflect any criminal activities even though investigations are still in progress. He noted that the cause of the fire will soon be released.
A release from the Guyna Defence Force (GDF) said that the fire of yet unknown origins occurred at approximately 03:25 hrs and struck while the Officer Cadets were engaged in a training exercise in the accommodation. All the Officer Cadets are safe and unharmed.
The GDF said they will replace all military and personal items and the course is being briefly suspended to facilitate this while the cause of the fire is under investigation.
An early Tuesday morning fire reduced the Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Officer Cadet School to a pile of rubble at Camp Stephenson, Timehri, East Bank Demerara.
Fortunately, no one was injured in that conflagration and the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) successfully saved three other nearby edifices.
Chief Fire Officer, Marlon Gentle told the Guyana Chronicle that the GFS got the fire call at 3:35 am and when they arrived at the scene the entire two-flat building was engulfed in flames.
He added that the upper flat was wooden and housed the barracks for the cadets while the lower flat which was concrete was the library and a storeroom.
Gentle said that a fire tender and the Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting tender responded to the fire and doused the flames and saved the three nearby buildings which are the Lecture Hall, kitchen and an accommodation area.
He stated that at the time of the fire the cadets were inside the upper flat of the building but they all managed to get out safely and tried to put out the blaze after they formed a bucket brigade but had to abandon the idea after they were overwhelmed by the smoke and flames.