A MALE patient, on Wednesday, reportedly set the Psychiatric Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on fire, but the blaze was quickly extinguished and all patients were evacuated before the Guyana Fire Service arrived on the scene.
According to reports, the fire started just after 09:00hrs on Wednesday in the Psychiatric Ward, housed on the ground floor of the three-storey Medical Block, located at the junction of Thomas and New Market Streets.

Fire Chief Marlon Gentle told the Guyana Chronicle that the fire was caused by one of the psychiatric patients at the hospital. The patient reportedly set fire to articles within the ward. When Guyana Chronicle arrived on the scene at around 09:30hrs, thick black smoke was emanating from the ground floor as well as the first floor of the building. Patients, some in shackles, were seen being evacuated from the building. The first fire tender arrived moments after. In total, five fire tenders arrived at the scene of the fire.

GPHC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Brigadier (Ret’d) George Lewis, told Guyana Chronicle that the hospital’s administration received a report at around 09:15hrs that there was a fire in the female holding area of the Psychiatric Ward. The Guyana Fire Service was summoned and GPHC’s Fire Safety Plan was quickly activated.

“Initial response would have seen members of staff utilising fire extinguishers and other firefighting equipment that we have on site to tackle the fire,” the CEO said, while adding that the activation of the Fire Safety Plan allowed for the speedy evacuation of patients and dousing of the fire.

According to Brigadier Lewis, at the time of the fire, there were six male patients in the psychiatric holding area. They were immediately evacuated. In total, 48 patients were removed from the Medical Block before the Fire Service arrived on the scene.
He said based on reports from the Fire Service, there was no structural damage to the building, only minor damage to the interior of the ground floor of the building, in particular, its walls and ceiling. Divisional Officer of the Guyana Fire Service, Gregory Wickham, told reporters that the Fire Service received a report of the fire at 09:36hrs and regular Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were set in motion. A total of five fire tenders responded.

Wickham confirmed that by the time firefighters arrived on the scene, hospital personnel were able to contain the fire.

“I want to at this point, thank the staff of the Georgetown Public Hospital [GPHC] who would have used the training that the Fire Service would have given them over the years, in the use of First Aid Firefighting equipment, that is, fire extinguishers,” the Divisional Fire Officer said.

At the time of interview, the cause of the fire had not been determined as the firefighters were still conducting their investigation. However, Wickham and his team had met with the hospital’s CEO once the fire was completely extinguished and the area cleared.

The Divisional Fire Officer, however, expressed concerns that poor judgement on the part of pedestrians and motorists had impeded the timely access to the hospital.

“At this time also, I want to speak to members of the public and motorists, and advice that they should adhere to the siren and mass alarm. Our time to get here was impeded very greatly by those motorists who did not heed to the use of the siren and the mas alarm. An institution as this where we have thousands of patients, we cannot afford to have our progress impeded by those stubborn or reckless motorists. So motorists, please get your act together,” Wickham pleaded.

The incident occurred one day after a fire gutted the popular District Ultra Lounge at the Giftland Mall. While that fire was also contained, the nightclub suffered approximately $45M in losses.