President lambastes GFS over Brickdam devastation

The remains of the Brickdam Police Station a day after the fire

Expressing disappointment in the Guyana Fire Service’s (GFS) “poor at best” response to the fire which ravaged the Brickdam Police Station on Saturday, President Irfaan Ali yesterday blasted firefighters and warned that their lax approach will not be tolerated.

“The response of the fire service was poor, at its best, yesterday, and as President, I hope that the fire service can acknowledge this because if you can’t acknowledge the problem, you can’t deal with it,” the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Services said following a visit to the scene.

The fire started shortly after 11 am in the upper flat of an eastern building in the compound, according to Commissioner of Police Nigel Hoppie. About two hours later, nearly 80% of the decades-old structures in the compound were destroyed.