Fire reportedly electrical in origin erupted at about 15:30h on Friday in the storeroom of D. Singh and Sons haberdashery store on Regent Street, Georgetown.
Guyana Times understands that the business place is owned by 75-year-old Deodat Singh, who was in the store at the time of the incident.
Staff of the business place, reportedly becoming aware of the fire when they saw smoke emanating from the storeroom, raised an alarm and Singh’s son, Bissoondial Singh, who owns a business opposite his father’s, ran out and formed a bucket brigade with staff.
The scene outside the store on Friday afternoon
With assistance from other businesses, the fire was contained until the Guyana Fire Service arrived. Their fire fighters managed to save a large portion of the store, and prevented the fire from spreading to nearby businesses. Only the eastern section of the store was destroyed by the blaze.
Speaking with this publication, the younger Singh explained that the losses were very significant, although he could not give an estimation. He noted that the fire, combined with water damage, saw millions being lost.
“What was not destroyed by the fire was destroyed by the water. Right now in there have a lot of (stuff), so we just have to wait to get clearance from the Fire Department, and then we’ll clean up,” Singh explained.
When contacted, Fire Prevention Officer Andrew Holder said an electrical malfunction had occurred where combustible materials are being stored in the store. He said the fire was ignited on a carpet and then spread.
The officer is pleading with store owners to adhere to fire safety requirements as, according to him, D. Singh and Sons and other businesses in the area did not have fire extinguishers. He also highlighted that there was no Fire Certificate visible to him at the scene.
Confronted with this allegation, the younger Singh refuted those claims and noted that his father’s business has three fire extinguishers. However, he could not say whether the business had received a Fire Certificate, or if it had been cleared by the Guyana Fire Service to operate.
Following the Gafoors Complex fire at Houston, EBD last year, Deputy Fire Chief Compton Sparman had called for the Building Code to be observed. According to Sparman, the Building Code is stronger, and “has more meat than the Fire Prevention Act”.
The National Building Code of Guyana recommends the observance of various loads and resistance factors to ensure safety in structural designs and construction of buildings, while the Fire Prevention Act provides for the inspection of premises in Guyana for the purpose of eliminating fire hazards and connected purposes.
No one was injured in the blaze. Further investigations are ongoing.
