Mahdia CoI: Lack of equipment, trained personnel hindered Mahdia Fire Station’s response

…no fire alarm, no exit signs, no smoke detectors – fire inspection report

The public hearings of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the fatal Mahdia dormitory fire continued on Wednesday, with Officer-in-Charge of the Mahdia Fire Station, Ryan Scott revealing a number of deficiencies within the Fire Station’s operations.
As he recounted the events of the fateful day – May 21, 2023, Scott explained that there were only three trained firefighters working at the Fire Station, as opposed to the required complement of five.
This team of three was instead supplemented by a number of auxiliary firefighters, who are persons trained by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) to aid in responding to fires, as well as off-duty firefighters.
Prepared shortly after the tragic fire, Scott’s After-Action Report had further identified several challenges encountered while responding to the fire, noting concerns with the 11-year-old fire truck and a lack of water bowsers – water carriers of 2500-3000 gallons; breathing apparatus and breaking-in tools.
Despite putting in requests to receive these additional tools and to rectify issues with the truck, the Mahdia Fire Station has remained largely underequipped while the truck has seen only a select few improvements.
Scott explained that the responding team and civilians had to use a tree branch to create an opening in the dormitory and established a rescue path by using a water jet, thereby initially saving between 26 and 28 persons.
After three minutes of use within this operation, however, the water tank containing 450 gallons of water had been emptied, forcing Scott to find alternative water sources.
“There was a mobile pump on the fire truck. I took it off and gave it to the auxiliary personnel and off-duty firefighters to proceed to a trench that was probably about 600 feet away from the fire scene and I then took a fire truck and went about two miles away to shuttle water to continue the firefighting operation,” Scott said.
Having returned with another 450 gallons of water, the team sought to establish a cut-off point, so as to prevent further spread of the fire.
The fire was completely extinguished around 03:00h the following day, with the nearby drain being the main source of water as the team used the mobile pump and a number of delivery hoses accordingly.
Yet, despite these challenges, when asked if the Fire Station was in a position to effectively respond to the fire, Scott maintained that they were, and that their response was more so hindered as they were informed of the fire 15 minutes after it began.
The Officer-in-Charge, however, agreed that the Fire Station’s response could have been better if the team had received equipment, including breaking-in tools and water bowsers, which he was reminded was included in his After-Action Report.
Wednesday’s proceedings had also revealed that the Mahdia Fire Station did not have a designated phone number and persons in need are instead directed to call Scott’s cellphone or 912 where they would be routed to Fire Services in Georgetown, who would subsequently inform their Mahdia counterparts.
Since the tragic fire, there are now two numbers specifically assigned to the Station– 510-9950 and 510-9951.
Meanwhile, the Mahdia Fire Station is now equipped with breaking-in tools, including a sledge hammer and an axe, and work continues on the fire truck to boost its operation.
Additionally, nine persons are currently being trained to effectively respond to fires in Mahdia.

Fire inspection report
Months prior to the tragic fire, Scott had also prepared a fire inspection report, upon the request of the Georgetown Divisional Officer, Clive McDonald, where he indicated a lack of fire prevention measures within the building.
“No fire alarm systems were provided for the buildings, no fire detection systems were provided for the building, grilles were seen on all windows, no exit signs were provided, three fire extinguishers were provided for the building, no smoke detectors were provided for the building,” Counsel Keoma Griffith said, reading Scott’s report.
“You observed that the absence of all of these things was a threat to life and safety,” Griffith confirmed with Scott.
Despite submitting this report to Divisional Officer McDonald and Chief Fire Officer Gregory Wicham as well as the Regional Education Department Officer, Scott noted that no changes were made to improve the dormitory’s fire prevention practices.
However, Scott stated that he conducted a training session on the use of the fire extinguishers using the PASS (Pull, Aim, Squeeze, and Sweep) method at the Mahdia Secondary School for students and teachers. (G13)