A probe has been launched into a fire yesterday morning which completely destroyed a three-storey building at Plantain Walk, Pouderoyen which housed the Education and Probation Office of the Ministry of Education as well as other government departments.

According to reports reaching this newspaper, the fire was first detected by security officers stationed at the building, who noticed smoke emanating from the middle floor of the building at the eastern end. Residents in the area then alerted the fire service but by the time the fire tenders arrived, the building was completely gutted.

At a briefing held yesterday afternoon at the Regional Administration Office, Minister within the Ministry of Education, Dr Desrey Fox stated that while the fire may have interrupted the region’s activities to celebrate Education Month, those plans will continue within the coming days. She said there is some amount of concern on how staff members of the government departments in the region will continue their respective duties since data has been destroyed by the fire. She said management information personnel attached to the Education Ministry have been dispatched to determine the volume of lost data as well as what can be retrieved. She said some 10 computers and records, including bio-data among other important documents had been destroyed in the blaze.

The Ministry of Education building at Vreed-en-Hoop yesterday.

Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Local Government, Sewchan, said that officials within the region are working with the Ministry of Finance, the Teaching Service Commission and other sectoral agencies to share similar information.

Region Three Chairman Julius Faerber told the media that three security guards at the building were alerted to the fire after hearing a loud explosion. He said that around 2:20 am, the guards observed flames in the middle flat of the building and subsequently informed the Leonora and Georgetown departments of the Guyana Fire Service as well as the Vreed-en-Hoop police station with assistance from residents.

He said that by the time the fire tenders arrived on the scene, sometime around 3:45 am the building was completely destroyed. Faerber said that investigators are currently working to determine the exact cause of the fire and the 37 staffers housed at the building are in the process of relocating to other government offices at Region Three, including the Regional Administration Office and the Education Resource Centre.

When questioned on whether the fire may be the result of arson, Fox said that the cause of the fire will be announced when the agencies tasked with investigating its cause have completed their investigations. She said the Ministry is awaiting such information from the fire department and the police.

Earlier yesterday, a still shaken Marlyn Jones-O’Donaghue, Regional Education Officer for Region Three recalled arriving at the scene of the fire a few minutes to 4 am yesterday. She told Stabroek News that the fire service was at the scene when she arrived but by then the building was almost destroyed. “Everybody is still shocked”, she said.

Jones-O’Donaghue stated that education officials in the Region are still grappling with what caused the entire building to be destroyed and she was not in a position to give much information. She noted, however, that the Region Three department of the Ministry of Education will be operating out of the Resource Centre located in the same compound. She declared that work has not really been affected and noted that as this month is Education Month, the education department will be proceeding with their plans. Some 21 persons working out of the Education Office had been affected by the fire, she said.

The still smoking remains of the Ministry of Education building at Vreed-en-Hoop yesterday.

Meantime, a resident, who lives obliquely opposite the building, said that it was just about 3 am when she woke up. “I hear like if zinc ripping out”, the woman, who asked that her name be withheld, stated. She said that someone was calling her name, telling her to get up and shouting that the Ministry’s building was on fire. She related that when she looked outside, the western upper portion of the building had already been destroyed and the fire was moving on to the middle flat.

She said it appeared that the fire started at the western end before moving to consume the rest of the building, noting that the flames were very high and it was very hot. “With that heat I thought it woulda come over the road” the woman stated adding that “all you doing is saying yuh prayers all the time”.

She criticized the response of the fire service stating that they took over an hour to arrive. “They tek long, very long”, the woman stated pointing out that the trucks from the Georgetown Fire Department arrived before the one from Leonora. The woman recounted that shortly before 5 am the fire subsided.

The woman also stated that the area had been experiencing power outages on Wednesday night and the lights came on at 10 pm before going off again. “It was like fairy lights”, she said while expressing the view that it was this that may have caused the fire.

Firemen spray water on the embers of the Ministry of Education building at Vreed-en-Hoop yesterday.

This fire comes after the destruction of another government building on July 17. A huge fire believed to have been sparked by channa bombs, completely destroyed the Ministry of Health’s main building and an annex at Brickdam in the wee hours of that day, devouring  records, vehicles and a string of key divisions in a major blow to the health sector. To date three persons have been charged in connection with that fire: Keith Ferrier, Clayton Woolford and Tedena Bagot, have all been remanded to prison.

Many others were questioned and placed on self-bail. Two suspects: Kurt Thierens called ‘Bage’ or ‘Glasses’ and Colin Jones called ‘Bonny’, who were among six other persons who were arrested in connection  with the July 17 fire, escaped in the early hours of July 27 leaving no trail. They were housed separately from the others at the Providence Police Station.

Meantime, yesterday too, another fire, which the occupants said was caused by a channa bomb, destroyed the home of a family of four at Crane, West Coast Demerara. Investigators are also working to determine the exact cause of that fire. (Additional reporting by Alva Solomon)