CHIEF Fire Officer Marlon Gentle said arson is suspected in last Friday’s fire which razed the interior of four businesses at Ashok’s on Regent and King Streets, Georgetown.Gentle, in a comment to this newspaper, said the Guyana Fire Service have almost completed their probe.
He noted that from the onset there was that suspicion which has not changed and a report will be made known shortly on the findings of the investigation into the blaze which razed the interior of Ashok’s Dry Goods Store, Sabrina’s Store, another small clothing store and a real estate office.
The storage bond of those haberdashery businesses were also destroyed, resulting in millions of dollars in losses and employees on the breadline.
During the early hours of September 11, 2015 fire ripped through the old wooden building that accommodated the stores, an office and storage bond.
Owner of Ashok’s Dry Goods Store, Hemant Keswani, an Indian national, told this publication that he was at home when he received a telephone call informing him that his store was ablaze at about 01:00 hrs.
When he arrived on the scene there was nothing he could do but watch as his business place went up in flames, leaving several store workers jobless.
Keswani stated that he migrated to Guyana many years ago and invested in the store that sold clothing and other articles. His losses would run into millions, he said, and he was unsure how he would cope.
The businessman said he closed and secured his store at 16:30 hrs the previous afternoon and was sure that all electrical points had been switched off before he left for home and so he could not say what caused the blaze.
Gentle told the Chronicle that the stores were housed on the ground floor of the building and the upper flat was the storage bond. The fire was seen in several parts of the building when firefighters forcibly entered the place.
He reported that the Guyana Fire Service received the fire call at 12:42 hrs and four fire tenders and one high-rise tender responded with an adequate number of firemen.
Gentle stated that when they arrived, thick smoke was billowing from the building which was secured with shutters and padlocks and they had to force their way in.
After they gained entry, he said, fire was observed at multiple parts of the building and they went into fire-fighting mode and contained and extinguished the blaze from spreading to nearby buildings.

By Michel Outridge