An early morning fire yesterday destroyed the building that houses army Cadet Officers at the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Base Camp Stephenson, at Timehri.
There were no reported injuries and the origin of the fire has not yet been determined.
In a statement, the GDF said that the fire occurred sometime around 3:25am. The statement said that the Cadet Officers were engaged in a training exercise in the building at the time. The building housed 17 Cadet Officers of the Standard Officer Cadet Course #45.
One rank stationed at the base told Stabroek News that he heard the fire alarm sometime around 3:30am and immediately rushed to the scene. “I get up and hear them saying that fire in the training college (Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Officer Cadet School) around 3:30 this morning and I just run to the scene and when I reach there the whole building been already on fire,” he said
It was not clear how exactly the blaze started but the rank said that he was informed that the fire was first seen at the back of the building and took no more than 15 minutes to engulf the entire building, which was made of wood and is old. The rank said that the army ranks was assisted by fire trucks from the Guyana Fire Service in putting out the blaze.
The fire fighters battled the blaze for approximately 45 minutes but were unable to save anything from the building. However, their efforts prevented the blaze from spreading to other nearby buildings. One rank said that the building was old and that contributed to its rapid destruction.
Those housed in the building lost all their personal effects and one rank told Stabroek News that he is now left only with the shorts that he was wearing. Stabroek News was unable to contact Fire Chief Marlon Gentle for a comment yesterday despite several efforts.
The army said that it will replace all military and personal items and the course is being briefly suspended to facilitate this. Investigations are ongoing, it added.
