FIRE Chief, Marlon Gentle on Tuesday declared electrical in origin the fire that destroyed the Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Officer Cadet School at Camp Stephenson, Timehri, East Bank Demerara. Gentle said the fire started when the electrical wiring went haywire on the morning of August 6, causing the building to be totally consumed, although three other nearby edifices were saved.
Fortunately, no one was injured in that incident.
Gentle told the Guyana Chronicle that the GFS received the fire call at 3.35 am, and when fire service ranks arrived at the scene, the entire two-flat building was engulfed in flames.
He added that the wooden upper flat housed the barracks for the cadets, while the concrete lower flat housed the library and a storeroom.
Gentle said a fire tender and the airport rescue and fire-fighting tender responded to the fire by dousing the flames, saving the three nearby buildings, which are the Lecture Hall, kitchen, and an accommodation area.
At the time of the fire, the cadets were reportedly resting inside the upper flat of the building, but they all managed to get out safely; and they tried to put out the blaze by forming a bucket brigade, but had to abandon that enterprise after they were overwhelmed by the smoke and flames.
Fire on the morning of July 31 destroyed three buildings and damaged two others on Regent Street, Georgetown. One man succumbed from a heart attack when he saw fire heading to his house/business, while several Chinese nationals were rescued from the store they were occupying where the fire started.
The fire reportedly started in a heavily grilled Chinese store, which was also living quarters for the business persons. The Chinese had to be rescued by the GFS.
The cause of that fire was electrical in nature, and was deemed accidental by the GFS.