Quick action by the Guyana Fire Service prevented what could have been a major disaster this midday when fire erupted at the Children and Family Center at Plum Park this morning.
Thick black smoke was noted in a section of the building just after 10 o’clock this morning triggering emergency calls to the Fire Service.
According to reports, no one was inside the building at the time of the blaze. However, a number of children, who were in the nearby buildings in the same compound, were quickly moved to safety by those working at the Children and Family Centre, which is a government run facility.
Divisional Fire Officer for Operations, Otis Charles told News Source that the Fire Service received a report of the fire at 10:25hrs and quickly sprang into action, arriving at the scene within 10 minutes.
“When we arrived there, the top floor of the building was fully engulfed, fully engulfed. Smoke was emanating from all angles in the ceiling from that building. We responded with four appliances, one from Campbellville, one from our headquarters here, one from West Ruimveldt and our HP, which is the Hydraulic Platform,” Charles told News Source.
He said due to the quick response of the Fire Service, the firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the single building.
“We were able to surround that fire and contain that fire right to the same building of origin, on the same top floor without it spreading to the ground floor, which also has four apartments. And based on the damages, we could see is just two apartments that are completely destroyed,” the Divisional Officer explained.
On arrival at the scene, eye witnesses told reporters that the Fire Service arrived on the scene approximately 30 minutes after the fire started. One eye-witness, Vanessa Nurse, said that on arriving the firefighters encountered a number of challenges.
“I was here sitting when the fire start. The Fire Service took a while before they came here to out off the fire, and they had a little hiccup when they came to because they had a lot of holes in the hose. Also, they take long before they could even out the fire,” Nurse said.
But Charles refuted those claims, maintaining that the Fire Service arrived within 10 minutes. He said too that as result of the swift action of his team, the fire was contained.
“I would say that the firemen did an excellent job because the internal part of that building, is wooden structure, and it is fresh paint, and it is an open area where you have a lot of wind and all of that, and they were able to surround that fire and extinguished it within a reasonable time. So, I think it was a great job,” the Divisional Officer explained.
He said based on reports received, only one person was occupying the building, however, the individual was not present when the fire erupted. He said while there were children and other persons in the compound, they were quickly moved to safety.
Charles suspects that the fire was electrical in nature. However, he said a thorough investigation is being conducted into the cause of the fire by the Fire Service.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login