No immediate danger to residents as fire rages near sawmill at Amelia’s Ward – Town Clerk

A fire has ignited a section of Amelia’s Ward in Linden, but authorities say it is not expected to pose any immediate threat to nearby residents, according to Linden Town Clerk Lennox Gasper.
According to Gasper, the fire, which started on Thursday behind a sawmill in Amelia’s Ward, was a different location from where a similar incident took place last year. Gasper noted that the area where the fire started was used for the disposal of waste material.

“It was not a garbage heap, but rather a woodpile that was believed to have been set on fire. The area at the rear of the sawmill, known as the gully, was utilised by sawmill personnel for the disposal of commercial and industrial waste. This location is believed to be where the fire originated, potentially leading to an uncontrolled spread. This information was provided by the fire chief at the scene last night.”
He said he was alerted to the situation early Thursday morning and visited the scene shortly afterward.
Gasper reported that firefighters worked throughout the night to contain the flames and ensure that the fire did not spread further out of control.
“When I visited, there was no fire tender and about seven or eight firefighters at work trying to contain the fire and make sure it didn’t spread toward the sawmill to damage anything there. But it was a good distance away from the sawmill.”
The town clerk emphasised that, based on advice from fire officials, there were no immediate signs of danger to residents.
“There was just heat in the area, but it was not the gas like last time when we had that kind of gas. The gases from the rubbish were very intense the last time when we had that long situation with more and more smoke.”
A similar fire incident occurred in April last year when emergency response teams were mobilised to battle a blaze at the Waaldijk Sawmill in Amelia’s Ward. The fire, which broke out on the evening of April 9, was eventually contained but took hours to fully extinguish.
The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Guyana Fire Service had previously issued warnings to sawmill operators in the Amelia’s Ward area following the major fire incident in April last year.
At the time, authorities strongly urged surrounding sawmill operators to temporarily cease operations as emergency response efforts were ongoing and the risk of additional fires remained high within the immediate vicinity.
The advisory followed an incident in which a nearby hut was completely destroyed by fire. Preliminary investigations indicated that the blaze was triggered by the negligent disposal of fresh timber waste by a nearby sawmill operation. The waste had reportedly been placed too close to an active fire edge, where it ignited and spread to the structure.
Fire officials had also revealed that approximately ten sawmills were operating in close proximity to the fire zone, significantly increasing the potential risk of the blaze spreading.
As a result, authorities emphasised that the cooperation of all operators in the area was critical to ensuring the safety of firefighters, equipment, and nearby properties.