Boat owner ignored request for fire extinguishers, teen pump attendant says

Donald James, the 17-year-old boy who was pumping fuel from a trawler that exploded and set fire to several boats and buildings at the Turn Basin water front in Port Kaituma last week, said he had asked his employer to ensure fire extinguishers were on the boat but no one heeded his request.

“I asked the boss man to send fire extinguishers for the boat and he never send… The boat didn’t even have a bucket of sand,” James told Stabroek News via a telephone interview.

James recounted that on the day of the explosion, he had “started” the engine around 7 am and turned away