OCTOGENARIAN Ms Ivy Codette was the first person to be alerted to a fire which gutted the popular Jokwesan Creole Diner and contiguous residences in Charlotte Street, New Amsterdam, Berbice shortly after 02:30hrs yesterday, leaving 18 persons devastated, including 10 employees of the business, and millions of dollars in damages.

What remains of Jokwesan’s Creole Diner after yesterday’s fire

Residents of the community blamed members of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) for the extensive loss, as they failed to answer repeated telephone calls; and, had not a motorcyclist personally alerted them, GFS ranks would not have rushed to the scene, even though by then the diner and the building occupied by Jeffrey and Linda Christie were already engulfed in flames.
A GFS official, responding to the residents’ accusations, blamed the garbage-covered hydrants, which were initially inaccessible, for the escalation of the fire.
Ms Codette, whose home adjoining the diner was saved from firy destruction, recounted to the Guyana Chronicle that she was asleep but sub-consciously became aware of something burning. “I peeped through a crease looking into the shop [diner] and I saw the place red, red. Me say to myself this is not the sky, this is fire! So me went outside calling ‘Fire! Fire!’, but no one was around, I was alone. Minutes later, a guard at the PPP office join in the shouts, and then other people come out,” she recalled.
Jeffrey Christie, who had returned home shortly after midnight, was tired after a hectic day. Scheduled to drive a hired twenty-six-seater bus early Saturday morning, he was asleep with his wife Linda, and was initially unaware of the constant banging and calling of public-spirited persons trying to alert him to the fire which had engulfed the nearby diner.
“When I wake I could not see anything. The place was in smoke. I heard people saying ‘Fire! Fire at Jokwesan‘s kitchen!’ I was aware that the kitchen was next to my home. I then recalled that the 26-seater bus was outside. I had driven it home last night as I had a special for today [Saturday].
“I ran outside, but had to return inside for the vehicle’s key. I reversed the bus further down the street then I remembered my motorbike. To get the bike, I had to get the garage keys. I reentered the house but could not find the keys, (so) I took out a bag with my important documents. It was afterwards that I remembered that I did not ride the bike home, I had left it in Tucber Park, as I had driven the bus home,” he recalled.
A seemingly composed businesswoman Angela Claudina Williams, popularly known as Claudine, said she was at her Cummingsville home mixing dough when she received a telephone call alerting her of the fire.
“On arrival, the place was already engulfed. I left here at 20:00hrs on Friday night. We do not cook at night. The business has been in operation for ten years, but I cannot give an estimated loss. I know it’s (in the) millions,” she said.
After the blaze had been controlled, it was realized that two additional buildings, namely the residence of Althea Trotz and the Courts Furniture Store, had also been scorched, while an overhead tank belonging to the latter had been destroyed.
Trotz’s brother, Shawn, said the response of the Fire Service was disappointing, but residents had assisted him in minimizing the damage done by the fire at his sister’s home. “Some of the items were moved to the yard, but the ceiling and other household articles were destroyed either by the fire or were water-soaked,” he said.
As firefighters scoured the scene for clues at daylight, several children along with the less fortunate persons gathered to have a look at the place where they had previously accessed a meal or portions of uncooked poultry on a daily basis. “I pray that God help them. They [Jokwesan] used to help needy people like me. I cannot buy chicken in the shop, but I used to come here in the afternoon and get me pieces,” a woman muttered.
“I did not know this happen! I come fuh lil tea and is now me see! I di go to the Post Office fuh de lil money, but them say to come back on Monday, so me come here fuh de lil back-up. Me so sorry!” expressed a pensioner who preferred not to be named.
A source close to the Williams family of Cummingsville, Town Savannah, New Amsterdam, who operated the Jokwesan’s, indicated that this tragedy was a hard hit, as the family was about to commence preparation of meals for the day’s opening when they received the news.
Approximately one dozen staff members of Jokwesan’s are hoping for an early decision on the fate of the business, as they are now left jobless. The source expressed conviction that Jokwesan’s will soon reopen for business and will provide the same quality creole food it has been providing its customers over the years.
Meanwhile, official investigations into the origin of the fire have commenced.