THE Guyana Fire Service (GFS)’s preliminary investigations have revealed that the fire that destroyed a section of the Skeldon Market originated from an electric fan that was left plugged-in in one of the stalls.

In a statement, the GFS said that the fan became overheated and subsequently ignited nearby flammable materials.

“A fire, electrical in nature, erupted on the east southern side of the Skeldon Municipal Market in Corriverton, Berbice on November 27, 2023, at approximately 06:45hrs, causing significant damage,” the GFS said, adding:

“Upon receiving the distress call, Fire Tender No.101 from Corriverton, and Fire Tender 110 from Rose Hall, led by Station Officer Minty and four other ranks, swiftly responded to the scene. Their prompt action ensured that the fire was contained and extinguished.”

“The Guyana Fire Service successfully managed to quell the flames, but the aftermath indicates the destruction of two stalls and damage to several others.
As the investigation unfolds, authorities are diligently working to determine the full extent of the incident and take necessary measures to prevent such occurrences in the future,” the statement added.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh; Minister within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development Anand Persaud; Regional Chairman David Armogan; Regional Vice-Chairman Zamal Hussein; and Regional Executive Officer (REO) Narendra Persaud visited the grocery and clothing section to access the damage and listen to concerns of the affected vendors.

Minister Singh related that upon the completion of the fire investigation, a technical team will be deployed to the area, and subsequently works will be undertaken to ensure that the affected area becomes functional at the earliest opportunity.

“Our instruction is once the fire service has completed their investigations, and once they confirm that the area is safe for civilian entry, we will have a technical team assess what is needed as an immediate intervention to restore the structure’s integrity and, in particular, to fix the roof and do other core and essential repairs to make sure that section can be brought into use once again. We want to make sure that people can return to their stalls, to resume doing business as quickly as possible. We know that it’s the Christmas season and we know how important it is to start back business. Their livelihood depends on accessing their stalls and being able to transact business here and of course Skeldon Market is very important market critical to the economic and commercial life of the area,” he said.

He also commended the fire officials for their prompt and effective response, which prevented the blaze from destroying the entire market.

“First of all, we have to be very grateful [for] no loss of life and no injury because the safety of our people is of the foremost priority. There were no causalities and no injuries. I believe the fire service has to be commended for the swiftness of their response… Our first priority was to keep people safe, of course we need to ensure that people continue to be kept safe and so before people are able to return to that section of that market to do business, we would need to ensure the structural integrity of that section of the market is restored and it is once again safe to do business,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mayor of Corriverton Imran Amin on Tuesday revealed that as of today, business at the market will resume except for the area that was affected by the fire.

He urged persons to be careful when traversing the area and to not breach the cordoned area as doing this could result in mishaps.

Amin further disclosed that vendors were allowed to access their stalls on Tuesday.

The fire left several vendors counting millions of dollars in losses. As the fire raged, many vendors tried to salvage their goods and in so doing, a large portion received water damage.