Millions lost in Bartica arcade fire
The fire ripping through the stalls at the Kool Breeze Arcade
The fire ripping through the stalls at the Kool Breeze Arcade

 

By Svetlana Marshall

MILLIONS of dollars went up in flames on First Avenue, Bartica,on Saturday when a fire of unknown origin completely destroyed two stalls, severely damaged another and scorched two other buildings.According to reports reaching the Guyana Chronicle, the fire started at around 09:30hrs in one of the stalls in front of the Kool Breeze Arcade and quickly spread to neighbouring buildings.
Gary Solomon, of Lot 5 Plum Park, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, is among the stall owners severely affected by the early-morning blaze. His stall was among the two completely destroyed.
Solomon told this newspaper that it was shortly after he had locked the back door of his stall and proceeded to a nearby restroom when the fire started.
“Like three minutes after, I hear somebody screaming Gary! Gary! I seh like dem can’t wait, dem ain’t see I in the toilet? But is when I look outside I see de black, black smoke,” he recalled.
With a bucket in his hand, Solomon ran to the river to collect water, and together with other vendors, tried to douse the stall as much as possible.
“I ain’t know who call the [fire] station; all I know I started throwing water,” he stated. Still distraught, Solomon said despite his attempts he was unable to save his belongings, including very important documents.
“All I have is the clothes I went to the toilet with. I ain’t get to save nothing. The smoke was too much, I got confused. I had my bags with all my documents and I was to go and do my medical October 6,” he said.
Solomon, who was hoping to migrate soon, said he was “saving up” his U.S. currency but all was lost in the fire. The clothes vendor, who had travelled to Bartica only on Thursday, said he lost approximately $5M in valuables.

“All I have is the clothes I went to the toilet with. I ain’t get to save nothing. The smoke was too much, I got confused. I had my bags with all my documents and I was to go and do my medical October 6 (to migrate to the U.S.” – Gary Solomon, whose stall was completely destroyed

Leslie Holbert is the other vendor whose stall was completely destroyed on Saturday.
Another vendor, Shameen Chan, told the Guyana Chronicle that her food stall was severely damaged during the blaze.
At the time, she was cooking when she heard loud screams. “I was cooking and all I hear them boys saying Fire! Fire!”
She said it was not long before public-spirited citizens starting drenching a nearby stall with water. “I see black, black smoke coming from the man stall that does sell clothes. Dem boys de throwing water but fire was too much for dem,” she added.
According to Chan, it was not long before the fire started to spread to the other stalls. She is of the opinion that the fire could have been contained, if the Fire Service had been prepared to handle the blaze.
“By the time the fire [tender] come they didn’t had water and they had to pump water from the river and that the pump took a time to start it working,” Chan contended.
She added, “Like 10 minutes after, the pump ran out of gas and by the time they do all of that the stalls were destroyed, at least two of them.”
The businesswoman said though her stall was not completely destroyed, all her valuables were burnt.
“Is only yesterday I buy drinks and suh and stock up my stall, all those things burn up, the stove, gas bottle, everything.” She is estimating her losses to be in the millions.
Another vendor, Donna Nurse, was also left to count her losses.
“I wasn’t there when it started, and by the time I got there, even the fire truck had gone.” The side of her stall was scorched and the lights damaged as a result of the fire. The WK Shopping Mall was also scorched.
An official from the Bartica Fire Station told the Guyana Chronicle that they received a call alerting them to the fire at 09:47hrs and fire fighters responded two minutes after.
He said while residents are contending that the Fire Tender arrived on the scene without water, it arrived with 450 gallons of water but that was exhausted within 1:30 seconds and so the fire fighters turned to the river.
“Some people don’t understand how it works; they believe that the truck is a tank that never runs out of water, but that is not true, it could only hold 450 gallons,” he explained.
He said that after arriving on the scene, the fire fighters doused the affected buildings and prevented it from spreading to the mall. He said vendors initially attempted to put out the fire but it was only after it became uncontrollable that the fire service was called.
“They didn’t call fire service; it was the police who saw the fire and called the fire station,” the Fire Station official stated.
Investigation into the fire is still ongoing. The cause is still to be determined. “However, it could be electrical in nature, because there has been a fluctuation in the flow of electricity,” the officer posited.
Deputy Mayor Kamal Persaud, while noting the destruction to property, said she was pleased there were no fatalities or injuries.
“It could have been worse, but we are thankful that the fire service arrived on time, contained the fire and no life was lost,” she told this newspaper.

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