St George’s High School fire was electrical in nature – GFS finds

The massive fire that destroyed the St George’s High School in Georgetown in July was “electrical in nature”, the Guyana Fire and Rescue Service said on Friday.
“Based on our findings the fire was electrical in nature and stemmed from an inoperable duplex receptacle located in the Social Studies Department on the north-eastern wall of the building.”

Though inoperable, it was said that electricity was going to the duplex receptacle and the subsequent overheating of the insulation caused the plastic coating on the wire to melt, resulting in arcing and sparking which ignited nearby combustibles and spread to the entire building.
The Fire Service is urging citizens to ensure electrical appliances, outlets and wiring are of the correct standard as advised by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS).
These items should be examined regularly to ensure they are in proper working order.
Citizens are also advised to equip their homes and businesses with fire extinguishers and smoke detectors for the early detection and extinction of fires.
Following the blaze, the Education Ministry commenced a registration process for displaced students to ensure that they are placed in a school for the new academic year.
Some of these schools are West Ruimveldt Secondary, South Ruimveldt Secondary, Plaisance Secondary, Dolphin Secondary, Freeburg Secondary, L’Aventure Secondary, Friendship Secondary, Ann’s Grove Secondary, Kingston Secondary, Covent Garden, and Cummings Lodge Secondary.
The wooden and concrete structure was destroyed by a ravaging fire that was later brought under control by the Fire Service after some time had been spent battling the fire.
On the day of the fire, a class with first formers was ongoing when both teachers and students were alerted by the cleaner that smoke was emanating from the Social Studies room.
After the class had exited the building, the fire began spreading quickly, and soon engulfed the upper floor of the two-storey building.
As a result of the blaze, 421 students and their teachers were displaced. St George’s High School was built in 1800 and was one of the oldest schools in the country.
Meanwhile, Fire Chief Gregory Wickham had said that an earlier call to the Fire Service could have saved the building.