Guyana: Major fire in Barnwell leaves one person homeless

Barnwell, Guyana: A fire destroyed a two-storey building in Barnwell, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) on Thursday evening due to a leaking propane gas cylinder.

According to reports, the fire brigade was alerted at 7.22 pm and the fire brigade took the incident under control at 7.50 am.

The building was reportedly owned by a 47-year-old man, Vickram Ramai, but it was occupied by 29-year-old Aria Chen, who was the sole tenant of the property.

Investigation showed that the fire was caused by a defective propane cylinder from which gas was leaking. The incident occurred after the leak came into contact with an open flame.

The building is reportedly made of wood and concrete, making it more susceptible to damage. No casualties were reported in the incident, but Chen was left homeless.

A similar incident was also reported from Georgetown, Guyana, where the Starter’s Nursery School, located on Camp Street, Georgetown, suffered a massive fire on Thursday morning.

Firefighters were on hand to assist in extinguishing the blaze and fully brought the blaze under control by 10:48am.

According to sources, firefighters arrived on the scene at 10:38 am and had the situation completely under control 10 minutes after the first water jet was deployed.

The government building was a two-story concrete building that served as an educational institution for young children.

The cause of the fire is believed to be a defect in the electrical distribution box, which caused sparks to form and ignite nearby highly flammable materials.

However, no casualties have been reported the huge fire has caused damage to 2 x 2 m concrete wall, 8 x 3 m plasterboard and the destruction of an electrical distribution box.

Thanks to the immediate response of the fire brigade and the coordinated efforts of all personnel, the fire was extinguished in no time, keeping everyone safe.