Alert members of the Rose Hall Youth and Sports Club on Saturday prevented what could have been a major fire.
Reports are that at the time the fire started, three club members including the Chief Executive Officer were inside the building at Area ‘H’ Ground, which only has one exit.
According to the club’s CEO, Hilbert Foster, on Saturday members of the entity did an extensive cleanup exercise and burnt items which are no longer needed.
“To the best of my knowledge I think what happen there is that a flying piece of paper which had flames on it ended up in one of the boxes which was eventually brought back into the storeroom,” Foster told this publication.
However, as he was making final checks on his way out of the building, ensuring that all lights were off, he noticed the flames.
The other club members were notified and attempts were made to extinguish it despite the extreme heat.
Cricketers, who were in practice, and members of the public formed a bucket brigade and were able to extinguish the fire.
Foster said that he is thankful that most of the items in the storeroom were saved but more than $500,000 worth in trophies along with gifts which the club had secured for its award ceremony, scheduled for later this month, were destroyed in addition to some items for the club’s Christmas village.
“The Rose Hall Youth and Sports Club is going to get over this. We are not asking anybody for assistance. We have gotten over other things like this in the past where bandits broke in and stole millions of dollars in stuff and we were able to get over it. One thing we would like to do is to thank the Heavenly Father for his guidance during the twenty minutes of madness, for saving our lives,” Foster said.
Meanwhile, on Sunday four persons were left homeless after a fire destroyed a two-storey house at Number 57 Village, Corentyne.
Reports are that two persons were at home at the time.
Marcia Courtland and her daughter were attending to a GWI meter reader when smoke was seen coming from the upper flat.
Neighbours were able to save some household items.
The fire is believed to have been caused by a fault in the building’s electrical wiring.
