Fire damage to Bartica NDC office still being assessed

Chairman of the Bartica Interim Management Committee (IMC), Ovid Benjamin, said the damage that was done to the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) building which was gutted by fire on Friday was still being assessed.

Benjamin added that quite a number of documents were lost in the fire and that the staff have been relocated to a government building next to the Lands and Surveys office until repairs on the office are complete.

He said IMC officials were still waiting on the fire service to complete its investigation so as to determine the cause of the fire.

The fire apparently started towards the back of the building, but a quick response from the fire service saved the building from being completely burnt. Documents inside the building were burnt, while some were destroyed by water.

A source had told this newspaper that a security guard at the building next to the NDC was making checks in his compound when he noticed fire coming from the NDC. The guard then informed his manager, who called the fire service. When the fire service arrived at the scene the fire had already spread to other parts of the building but firefighters managed to contain it.