Central Corentyne Chamber expresses concerns over inadequate response by Fire Department

The Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce has expressed concern over reports of inadequate response by the Rose Hall Fire Department upon receipt of a fire in and around the township.
This was according to Chamber President Rafeek Mohamed, who spoke with Guyana Times on Thursday.
This came in light of concerns raised by residents of Tain, Corentyne last week when a wooden building went up in flames, leaving a family of four homeless.
Residents had claimed that fire fighters arrived at the scene with non-functional equipment, hence, they could not perform their duties effectively.
On Wednesday, a similar situation arose when a fire erupted at Rose Hall Town which left a pensioner homeless.
Mohammed said he could not verify whether the pump was working at the time, but stated that the Chamber is in receipt of such complaints.
“We had complaints of inadequate response, inadequate reserves because most of the times when they go to a fire, they would have some water and they would take a long time to get water and by that time most of the building would be burnt out”.
Mohammed further stated that the Chamber will be penning a letter to the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) in relation to the constant lapses.
On Wednesday evening, it is believed that the fire might have started as a result of an unattended mosquito coil.
The owner of the building lives overseas, but Bhagwantie Peters had been living there for the past four years as a caretaker.
She told this publication that she left the lit mosquito coil in a plate on the floor next to the bed and went outside. According to her, when she returned, there was fire on the bed.
She explained that at the time, there was nothing that she could have done, hence, she evacuated the building and called for help.
The fire fighters arrived at the scene but experienced difficulties. “They didn’t have water and the fire catch to a neighbour place. A lot of buildings would have been burnt if the breeze was blowing,” she said.
In fact, it was the community which formed a bucket brigade that prevented extensive damage to nearby buildings.
A unit from the Albion Sugar factory also arrived on the scene and, they too, had difficulties tapping into a water source.
“By the time, the property had already gone flat. They had to get water from the trench and by the time the water started to come, the house already burn,” one resident stated.
So far, for the past month, there have been four destructive fires in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), which have left several persons homeless.