…fire an act of arson – Fire Officer
One of the oldest churches in the country, St Patrick’s Anglican Church located in East Canje, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) went up in flames on Thursday morning.
The church, which was established more than 180 years ago, is one of the oldest churches in the Diocese of Guyana and the third oldest church in the county of Berbice.
The building was completely destroyed.
Fire was spotted at the Church located at Rose Hall, East Canje around 04:30h on Thursday.
However, by the time firefighters arrived, the building was completely engulfed in flames.
Reverend Father Ezra Minty, who is the parish priest of both All Saints and St Patrick’s, said services had not been held at the building for just over one year. Reports are also that the building was off-grid and has been without electricity.
He said when he arrived on the scene, firefighters were battling to put out the flames.
Battling fire
Divisional Fire Officer Clive McDonald said there was not much firefighters could have done to save the building.
“Two tenders were dispatched and upon arrival, the crew made an assignment that the building was completely engulfed in flames. Immediately they went into action to suppress and stop the spread of fire,” he disclosed.
McDonald noted that the firefighters were able to get water from a nearby source.
“I believe that that fire based upon my experience and my knowledge in firefighting, that fire was in that building a pretty long time because we know what does be in a church; the fire load is not much but the structure is an old structure –= a historical one, so, once a fire started in there, it will spread rapidly. It is sad to know that we have lost a historical building in Region Six,” the Fire Officer said.
According to McDonald, fire investigators were able to find the origin of the fire which shows that it was deliberate.
Meanwhile, Reverend Father Minty said the building had been closed for about one year, because they were planning to renovate the church and parishioners were worshipping at All Saints and St Columbus Churches.
Reverend Fr Minty believes the fire was deliberately set, pointing out that there were several break-ins in recent months.
“We had a few break-ins through one of the side doors,” he said.
He added that there were not many valuables in the building but church items were in the building: “We had washroom facilities, the pews and of course, the altar.”
Reverend Minty noted that although the church was more than 180 years old, over time the structure had been renovated and repaired.
“Up until as recently as seven years back, we put the concrete structure to the front and the two sides. It is a sad day for the Canje area knowing that the church represented a historic aspect of that area. Persons, from time to time, would talk to me about the significance of that church. This was not electrical, because there is no electricity to the building; it had to be set by someone and that is heart-rending,” the priest said.
According to the Reverend on Thursday morning, he was in contact with the Head of the Anglican Diocese Right Reverend Charles Davison who promised to discuss the way forward.
“In terms of how we will do that I cannot say at the moment, because I know funds are limited. However, due to the historical nature of the building, I am hoping that as the priest, we can gather some funds from probably fundraisers or donors just to replace the building so that Anglicans within that area can have a place of worship. It is not only Anglicans, because as I was on the scene this morning, a Muslim man and a Hindu man came and they were talking about the historical nature of the building. One of them said since he came to the area and lived over 60 years ago, he would attend the church even though he was a Hindu – they will come to church from time to time even if it is a funeral,” Reverend Minty related. (G4)
