AN out-of-control fire at a garbage heap on Monday posed a threat to the Sol Guyana Inc. head office and fuel installation site at Lot BB Rome, Agricola East Bank Demerara.
Thanks to the timely and effective response of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), however, what could have been a major disaster was averted, since in excess of 10,000 barrels of fuel are stored at the Sol installation site.
The garbage heap, allegedly created by the Pritipaul Singh Group of Companies (fishing company), was located in close proximity to the Sol compound, and the blaze triggered the fire alarm and evacuation of close to 60 workers from the Sol operations.

The Guyana Chronicle, which arrived on the scene at around noon Monday, was just in time to see smoke billowing towards the west of the site, as ranks of the GFS valiantly fought to douse the blaze.
Fire officials deemed the blaze particularly dangerous because of its close proximity to the petrol stockpile.
“Because of the fact that it is a fuel installation, any fire is considered to be dangerous,” Station Officer Otis Charles said, adding that the garbage pile, just outside the Pritipaul Singh Group of Companies’ compound, comprised old fishing tanks and various types of unwanted items.
Sol General Manager, Orlando Boxill, said he was at work when the fire alarm sounded. Since the company had been taken through two separate fire drills in the last two weeks, staff members were aware that they had to evacuate the area immediately. What was helpful, too, was the timely arrival of the fire tenders.
“This morning, the fire alarm sounded; we came out and we saw a lot of smoke; we activated our security procedures,” Boxill told the media.

He said that though he could not determine the origin of the smoke at the time, investigations later revealed that it was just outside his office compound, where the neighbouring fishing company dumps its garbage.
He said that seeing that the two companies have an amicable relationship, he would be pushing for having a discussion with the other party’s manager in order to resolve the situation.
“We need to be ever so vigilant,” Boxill declared, adding that his company is doing its own investigating to arrive at a “root-cause analysis” of the fire, after which recommendations would be made to prevent a recurrence.
What may have saved the day for both companies, he said, was the direction in which the wind was blowing at the time. “If the wind had blown in the other direction, it could have been catastrophic,” he told the Chronicle.
A billboard just outside Sol declares that Sol’s goal is: “No harm to people or the environment”. It also boasts of having a record of “0” fires and explosions and fatalities on its premises.

Attempts by the Guyana Chronicle to reach the manager of Pritipaul Singh Investments proved futile.

This is the second garbage dump fire the Guyana Chronicle has covered within recent times. Two Sundays ago, the northern half of the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) ground on Thomas Lands was set ablaze after a garbage heap fire went out of control and burned scores of tyres, releasing in the process acrid smoke into the atmosphere.

The GFS was summoned to fight that fire, which affected residents in the Lamaha/Alberttown/Queenstown area. One man even complained that he was forced to send his wife across town because she has an asthmatic condition.

Citizens are calling on government to initiate a campaign to deal with the issue of garbage dump fires, which are becoming increasingly dangerous.

By Shauna Jemmott