The kitchen area of a Chinese restaurant on the Grove, East Bank Demerara (EBD) Public Road where a mid-afternoon blaze on Saturday gutted four buildings, had experienced smaller fires within the last year.
The Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant, which was housed in the bottom flat of the two-storey building at Lot 50, Grove Public Road, had been in existence for more than five years and according to a neighbour the owners of the building had on occasions complained to the operators of the restaurant about the “faulty” gas connections aback the kitchen.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle told Stabroek News yesterday that the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) has been able to determine that the inferno began at the Chinese restaurant when a boiler which was positioned at the side of the building malfunctioned. Earlier in the day the boiler had malfunctioned and the owner of the restaurant did his own “makeshift” operations to “fix” the boiler, Gentle noted.
He noted that moments before the fire began, the proprietor was using the boiler and he left it unattended and it was during this time, that the equipment malfunctioned a second time. He stated that it was not an explosion which caused the fire as was earlier reported, adding that the gas cylinders on the site exploded during the blaze.
Gentle noted that a fire officer called the agency and stated that a building was on fire and a second was beginning to catch. He said that the GFS responded immediately and three fire tenders sped off amid a traffic jam, which he noted, delayed the response efforts as a line of traffic stretched as far back as Providence.
On arrival at the scene, three buildings were ablaze and the fire chief noted that while the tanks on the tenders were filled, several factors came into play, and a tactic used was to locate a water source several corners away from the scene. However, by the time water flowed through the hoses, the buildings had already been destroyed and efforts were then made to contain the fire.
Some 20 persons resided at the building which housed the Chinese restaurant at Lot 50, 6 persons resided at Lot 48, 4 persons at Lot 51 and 6 resided at Lot 49.
Ganesh (only name given) who lived at Lot 48 and whose home was partially destroyed during the afternoon blaze, told Stabroek News yesterday from his car where he slept on Saturday evening, that twice last year the gas connections at the kitchen of the restaurant had been on fire.
“The man next to me at Lot 49 complained to the restaurant people before that the storage alone of the gas cylinder was a hazard”, Ganesh noted. He said that late last year, his neighbour at Lot 49, who operated a beverage depot as well as a chicken business at the bottom flat of his home, had related to him that he saw, ”fire running along the pipes which connect to the gas tank outside the restaurant”.
The top flat of Ganesh’s home was completely gutted by the inferno and according to the man, “right now I gah fuh start all over again..I do mechanic work and that don’t really pay much”. The man lived with his wife, their two children and two grandchildren at the damaged home. He said that his relatives in another village in the area had been assisting the family in the meantime. He said that his losses were enormous, noting that the family had jewellery which were all destroyed during the fire.
Steps
He recounted that he was upstairs in his home when he heard persons shouting and according to the distraught man, when he peered out his window, the steps at the back of the restaurant were ablaze. He said that he and his family hurried out of the house while explosions could be heard next door at the restaurant.
“This fire coulda been restrained to the restaurant and when the fire truck come me house was still alright but then them had to lead the hose till up the road to a trench”, Ganesh noted.
Other persons at the scene noted that while the GFS was prompt in its response, the officers appeared un-equipped to deal with the situation at hand. “At all these fires they always never got water and they always seem not prepared”, an elderly man who lived across the road from the scene of the fire noted.
Another resident who operates a small fuel depot opposite the scene of the fire noted that since the authorities have been promoting the Grove/Diamond area to attain township status, considerations for the placement of a fire station in the area should be looked at. He noted too that the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) at the Grove/Diamond area should also consider the placement of fire hydrants in the communities in the near future.
At Lot 49, dozens of beverages, some partially destroyed, lay on the ground while the owners, the Poorans lost millions worth of chickens, chicken feed and appliances. Neither the Poorans nor the operators of the Chinese restaurant, who rented the bottom flat of the building, were around when this newspaper visited and reports are that relatives at areas along the EBD have come to their rescue. The occupants of Lot 51 had also sought temporary shelter with relatives.
Several persons rummaged through the rubble in search of valuables yesterday afternoon as passers-by stopped to get a glimpse of the scene.
