Convict starts fire at NA Prison

A convicted prisoner on Saturday evening started a fire at the New Amsterdam Prison.
Reports are at about 18:35h, the convicted prisoner, Devon Griffith, who is serving a 25-year sentence for murder, started the fire in the solitary confinement area. When this newspaper arrived at the scene, one unit of the New Amsterdam Fire Service was outside the prison.
This newspaper was told that the fire was extinguished even before the unit arrived.
Meanwhile, Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels in a statement on Saturday evening said that the prisoner, who is mentally ill, was on Saturday relocated from the other prisoners who are also mentally ill and placed in the security block due to his aggressive behaviour towards them.
“Whilst in the security block, I am informed he bridged the electric wire that caused a feedback to a main panel. This resulted in a large amount of smoke at the panel. Members of the Joint Services quickly responded and assessed the situation. The members of the Guyana Fire Service conducted inspections and the area was declared safe. The prisoner has since been relocated and is being monitored,” Samuels said in his statement.
The Guyana Power and Light were also at the scene.
Officer in charge of the New Amsterdam Prison, Deoraj Gyandat told this publication that the officers on duty at the prison responded promptly.
“Some of the prisoners were interviewed and they were all fine,” he told this publication.
Meanwhile, residents living in the area said that they heard a “commotion,” and then shouts of “fire”.