Fire believed set by mentally ill patient

The Observation Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) and other facilities were yesterday morning consumed by a fire allegedly set by a mentally ill patient. 
A mattress was reportedly set alight in the Male Psychiatric Ward during an early morning fracas, resulting in the total destruction of that building as well as those housing the Medical Outpatient Department and the Patient Care Assistant teaching facility. It is thought that all of the patients managed to escape the building.
At the time of the inferno, only the Male and Female Psychiatric Wards were occupied. Up to press time last evening four of the 25 to 30 inmates had not been accounted for and efforts were being made to find them.

The fire at the Georgetown Hospital Observation Ward shortly after it began yesterday morning. The entire block was engulfed in flames about 15 minutes after.

Meanwhile, some of the inmates of the Psychiatric Ward have been transferred to the mental institution at Canje, Berbice. This newspaper was told that a member of the hospital’s internal security and a matron were injured during separate confrontations with the inmates who were fleeing the burning buildings.

Within an hour members of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), who had initially suffered a water supply problem, managed to bring the blaze under control.
A hospital press release said that the fire started around 5:45 am and several buildings on the southern side of the compound were destroyed.
“The cause of the fire is still unknown but preliminary investigations reveal that it began in the Male Observation Ward and quickly spread to the adjoining buildings,” the release stated, adding that the GFS was summoned and responded immediately.

According to the release the patients in the Observation Ward were immediately evacuated and as a precautionary measure those in the Maternity Unit were evacuated but were subsequently returned to the Unit after it was established that the fire no longer posed a danger to their well-being. 
The hospital in its release stated that efforts are being made to locate the four missing patients.
Meanwhile the hospital is advising patients who would normally visit the Medical Outpatient Department to seek treatment at health centres and regional hospitals while alternative arrangements are being made to relocate this department.

The fire spreading to the building housing the Medical Outpatient Department and the Patient Care Assistance (PCA) teaching facility. The male observation ward where the fire started had already been gutted. (Trevoll Pereira photo)

This department was initially located  behind the Physiotherapy Department and could have been accessed from Lamaha Street. It was however relocated sometime last year after construction work began in that area.

Scores of persons flocked the scene to get a glimpse of the early morning destruction and the police were out in their numbers keeping the crowd at bay and controlling the traffic as the firemen battled the flames.

During the fire fighting exercise parts of the roof caved in and when the fire was extinguished all that remained were blackened frames of the building.  And the heat coming from the flames melted several water tanks in the hospital compound.
When this newspaper arrived, the firemen were working to put out several pockets of fire. Three fire tenders were on the scene with water in full supply.
Many staffers of the hospital gathered while  others were quickly evacuating the Maternity Ward. Mothers with their newborns  were pushed out in wheelchairs while others holding their bags were seen hustling to safety.
An ambulance later left the ward with several patients.
Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy who was on the scene said that fire officials said that that ward was not in danger but they were just taking precautionary measures by evacuating.

Roaming

The aftermath of yesterday’s fire. (Jules Gibson photo)

When the fire started hospital staff including the mentally ill patients made a dash for safety. At the height of the confusion, several of the patients managed to escape supervision and were seen walking around on Thomas Street.
One was found naked sitting in the avenue eating grass. He was quickly taken by two staffers to the Psychiatric Clinic and locked in a room with several other patients.
The police were quickly called in to find the missing inmates.
A resident in the area told Stabroek News that every morning there is usually a ruckus in the male ward during which the inmates would cuss each other and fight. Yesterday morning he said was no different.
The man said that he did not realize something was wrong until an inmate was heard screaming for the door to be opened because there was a fire. The fire, he said, was coming from the southern side of the building which houses the male ward.

Looking for every angle: These firemen were working hard yesterday morning to find the right angle to tackle the flames that engulfed the buildings housing the psychiatric wards. (Jules Gibson photo)

He added that the fire spread quickly though the wooden structures which had been there for years.
A security guard who was just about to conclude her 12-hour shift at a location in the vicinity of the hospital’s Observation Ward told Stabroek News that she was just about to write up her daily log book when she heard what she called ‘the usual morning confusion’ and loud sounds coming from the ward. She said she didn’t pay any attention since it was nothing strange to her.
“But then the sounds get louder and then I hear somebody shout fire, fire, open de door, open de door and I  start looking around and I didn’t see anything and  I go at the side and that’s when I see a lil bit a smoke and is like within minutes this fire just start spreading wild, wild,” she said.

The woman said she then saw nurses running down the stairway as the flames started to spread and then she noticed inmates running out.
“This fire happen fast though, real fast cause everything ketch fast,” she added.

Speaking to members of the media, Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, Michael Khan said that around 6:15 am he received a call informing him of the fire and when he arrived he saw an inferno.

He said that all the female patients were  accounted for but the males managed to “scamper out”. 
According to Khan, following the death of Natasha Vieira who was allegedly killed by another patient in the ward several weeks ago, security guards were placed inside.
Commenting on the events leading up to the fire, he stated that there was an altercation in the male ward but by the time the guards could have secured assistance “another patient I was told, this is hearsay, lit a mattress on fire and this is where everything went chaotic.”
He pointed out that the institution has had several problems with patients of the male ward,  adding that while there are fire extinguishers in place much cannot be done when there is a blaze and everything is chaotic.

A patient being escorted to the Psychiatric Clinic by hospital staff during the fire yesterday. (Jules Gibson photo)

He  could not say how old the buildings were but pointed out that when he took up his post eight years ago, they were already there.
Ramsammy later said that six of the patients were found at their  homes, adding that several of the long-term patients have been sent to National Psychiatric Hospital in Berbice. 
In a statement issued later, the minister commended the hospital staff for their competence in the smooth evacuation of the Obstetric and Gynecology Wards which was done because of the intense heat and smoke and also the increasing anxiety of the patients and staff.

There have been at least two cases in recent times where attempts were made by patients to set fires, the latest being last year.

Firemen working to extinguish pockets of fire. (Jules Gibson photo)