Extractor fan in kitchen sparks fire at Fogarty’s building

A major disaster was averted on Friday morning after firefighters contained and extinguished a kitchen fire in the cafeteria of the William Fogarty’s Ltd building in Georgetown.
Heavy smoke was seen billowing from the back of the building on Kirk Patrick Street (between Robb Street and North Road) sometime around 09:30h and an alarm was immediately raised. The building, which houses a number of businesses on its ground floor, was quickly evacuated.

Fire Chief Marlon Gentle told reporters at the scene that the Fire Service received several calls around 09:32h about smoke emanating from the building. Fire tenders were dispatched from the Central Fire Station at Stabroek, Alberttown Fire Station and West Ruimveldt Fire Station along with the newly acquired Fire Boat.
“When they got here, they encountered heavy smoke conditions on the lower floor with smoke creeping into the upper floors. We were able to go into a quick-attack mode and locate the fire somewhere in the kitchen. The fire was already spreading through the ceiling and going into the business area of the store. The crews managed to isolate the fire, attacked it and suppressed it,” the Fire Chief stated.

After putting out the blaze, investigators from the Fire Service inspected the kitchen area where it started. During the preliminary investigations, they found that Friday’s fire was caused by a faulty extractor fan in the kitchen of the Rose Bud Cafeteria on the ground floor.
“Something went wrong in the kitchen but I don’t think it’s a cooking appliance. We believe it’s an electrical fan – one of these extractor fans,” Gentle disclosed while updating the media on the fire.
Nevertheless, the Fire Chief lauded the efforts of the firefighters in tackling the blaze. He also expressed appreciation to the Guyana Police Force for assisting the Fire Service.

When Guyana Times arrived on the scene, firefighters were seen pouring water down the extractor fan pipe/tunnel to put out the blaze.
They eventually gained access to the building and were able to contain the inferno.
Moreover, the firefighters had to ventilate the building in order to ensure there were no other pockets of fire and cleared the heavy pockets of smoke. However, by mid-afternoon, business operators were given clearance to re-enter the building.

Damages/losses
While the extent of the damages from inside the building is unknown, Guyana Times understands that at least one clothing store attached to the building on Kirk Patrick Street – Noor Islamic Wear – suffered extensive damages.
Proprietor, Fauzia Noor, told this publication that the store was closed at the time of the fire and it was until around 10:00h that she was informed of it.
The woman, who has been operating the clothing and accessory store there for almost three years now, said by the time she arrived at the scene, the fire was already put out.
Noor related that a lot of the items in the store were destroyed by the fire and there is also extensive water damage.
This publication was informed that at least two other booths from the back end of the building were also destroyed in the fire. However, they were unoccupied at the time. The firefighters had cut into the entrance of the empty store to gain access to the back of the building from Kirk Patrick Street.
Meanwhile, another proprietor, who runs a children’s store in the Fogarty’s building, told this newspaper that the only damage to her store, like many others, was the heavy smoke that filled the air and contaminated items in the store.
Meanwhile, the Fire Chief told reporters that the only challenge the fire service encountered, specifically the tenders from the Central Station, was navigating through the congested Stabroek area to get to the scene. He said it took firefighters eight minutes from the station to Fogarty’s building which is about two blocks away. (G8)