The origin of the fire which destroyed sections of a Robb Street, Georgetown store during last month has not yet been determined but as the investigation continues, officials are working on two theories.
When contacted yesterday, Fire Prevention Officer Andrew Holder told Stabroek News that the fire department had received information and as a result was working on two theories.
“We are looking at the electrical angle of it and also at the speculations that there were some amount of welding works being done in the building at the time of the fire,” Holder said.
Investigators are hoping to wrap up the investigation early next week.
The fire started around 9.15am on January 20 on the top floor of the Lot 56 Robb Street, four-storey concrete building and lasted for about two hours.
The building is rented to Chinese nationals, who operate a variety store on the ground floor. The other flats are used to store stock.
The name of the building’s owner was given as Henry Alphonso.
This newspaper was told that an alarm was raised after thick black smoke was seen billowing from the building. Reports had revealed that some welding were ongoing by workers in the top floor when the generator that they were using exploded.
As a result, the men reportedly panicked and ran out of the building. Persons on the opposite side of the street recalled hearing a loud explosion before the fire started.
Owner of Jap’s Halall Meat Market, Jap Rahaman, whose business is located to the east of the building, had said that he was at home when he received a call informing him of the fire. “When I reach, I saw the fire at the top flat and out of curiosity I started to enquire how it started. I was told that they did welding in the building, when some generator blow up and the people run out,” he said.
