City firefighters saved St. Rose’s High from potential destruction last evening when they managed to contain a fire that engulfed the prep room for the school’s chemistry lab.
According to the caretaker Chapman (only name given), the fire started around 7:15PM.
The man, who said he had carried out his usual search of the building about an hour earlier, recounted that he was sitting in a waiting area when he saw smoke coming from the prep room.
A teacher, Yolanda Welch, who was in the Information Technology lab at the time, said that she exited the lab to dispose of some garbage when she noticed the smoke emanating from the room. “I started to panic and called 911 ’cause I couldn’t find a number for the fire station,” Welch said, while noting that the police informed her that they were going to send help.
Welch said that she quickly informed Chapman, who was already aware of the fire.
Chapman said he ran out of the building for help after the room burst into flames a few minutes after.
Another teacher, who was close by, arrived at the scene before the fire fighters and turned off the breakers outside of the school, cutting all electrical power.
Firefighters and police arrived at about 7:25 and were able to extinguish the fire and prevent its spread to other parts of the building.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle, who was on the scene, told Stabroek News that it was too early to ascertain what caused the fire. He praised the prompt response of the Alberttown Fire Station, which arrived first, and the firefighters’ effectiveness in containing the fire and preventing it from spreading further. He said while he has no indication that the fire was an act of arson nature, the scene would be treated like a crime scene.
Some teachers and persons who were at the scene after the fire were suspicious about the cause of the fire, given the fact that there had been four other fires in the city, on the East Coast and on the West Coast in the two preceding days.
