SINCE the rice bond fire on December 4 at De Hoop, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, when the storage area with rice and paddy to be shipped overseas was destroyed, resulting in millions of dollars in losses, the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) has said that the probe is still ongoing to determine the cause of the blaze.

Divisional Commander, Compton Sparman told this publication that they are awaiting word from investigators before making a pronouncement.

Chief Fire Officer Marlon Gentle told this publication that the GFS responded to a fire call at about 02:25 hours from the police. The Mahaica Unit responded but by then the entire zinc bond, which housed cargo rice, paddy, pesticides and equipment, was engulfed.

He added that the zinc shed bond collapsed after it was gutted by the blaze and fire fighters concentrated on saving the two other buildings in the compound and they were backed up by Onverwagt Fire Station and GuySuCo unit.

Gentle related that they ably contained the inferno to that zinc shed bond despite mechanical problems encountered with their water pumps after it took in silt and rice/paddy dust from the nearby canal where they got water.

The Chief Fire Officer stated that the zinc shed bond is the property of Deonarine Sukhlall and noted that poor storage contributed to the fire since the area was overstocked.