Fire Chief Marlon Gentle has confirmed that the recent fire at Chase Academy, located on Parade Street, Kingston, was electrical in origin.
Gentle said the finding was made after an investigation was conducted.
Three classrooms and an office area were damaged in the fire, which occurred sometime shortly after 2 am on August 4th. William Arthur, a security guard at the school, previously told Stabroek News that just around 2.15 am he observed thick smoke coming from the office area. Upon investigating, he noticed that the smoke originated in what he described as the waiting area.
It was reported, that he immediately made his way to the first floor and turned off the main switch, thereby cutting power to the building. He then tried to break the door to get inside but was unable to and the fire grew.
He said in about half an hour, firemen arrived at the scene and were able to eventually contain the fire, “otherwise you would not have seen the building.”
