Army base fire said to be electrical in origin

The fire that destroyed the building that houses army Cadet Officers at the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Base Camp Stephenson, at Timehri is said to have been of electrical origin.

According to a senior army official, based on the report of the Guyana Fire Service it was confirmed that the fire was of electrical origin. The Fire Service completed their investigations sometime yesterday.

Several attempts by the newspaper to contact Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle, proved futile.

The GDF said that the fire occurred sometime around 3:25am while Cadet Officers were engaged in a training exercise in the building. The building housed 17 Cadet Officers of the Standard Officer Cadet Course #45.

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. Army ranks were assisted by fire-fighters as they battled the blaze for approximately 45 minutes. However, they were unable to save anything from the building.

Those housed in the building lost all their personal effects.