Early-morning fire guts storage bond of Sankar’s Trading Auto Sales in Essequibo

– over $100M in losses estimated

A fire that broke out in the storage bond of Sankar’s Trading Auto Sales at Airy Hall on the Essequibo Coast in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) has devastated millions of dollars in assets before it was eventually extinguished.
The fire broke out at about 03:15h on Thursday, and the bond, located just behind the owner’s home, was completely engulfed in flames before firefighters arrived on the scene.

Businessman Tony Sankar explained that he was awoken by a phone call from a neighbour, who informed him that his storage bond was on fire.
“I was shocked when I received the call. By the time I rushed out, the fire had already spread, and there was nothing I could have done to save anything inside,” Sankar lamented.
Among the range of highly-valued assets the fire destroyed were two trucks that had not been registered, three canters, 1500 used tyres with rims, engines for cars, and a new all-terrain vehicle.

Sankar told Guyana Times that neither the bond nor any item within had been insured; nor did the facility have any electrical circuits, as it was powered by solar lighting.
With electrical malfunction being ruled out as a cause for the fire, Sankar has said he believes the fire might have had its genesis at the back of the bond.

The Guyana Fire Service has yet to pronounce on the cause and origin of this fire, and investigations are ongoing. (Raywattie Deonarine)