Abandoned ward at National Psychiatric Hospital goes up in flames

A section of an abandoned building at the National Psychiatric Hospital in New Amsterdam, Berbice, was damaged by fire on Wednesday.

The fire, which started just after 17:00h, was quickly brought under control by firefighters responding to the scene.

According to Divisional Fire Officer Clive McDonald, the Guyana Fire Service received a report of the fire, prompting an immediate response from the New Amsterdam Fire Station.

“At 17:05h, we received a call at our operations room about a building on fire in this facility. Immediately, two appliances responded,” McDonald explained.

He said that upon arrival, firefighters observed heavy smoke and flames emanating from the building, prompting an aggressive firefighting operation to prevent the blaze from spreading.

“On the crews’ arrival, they observed heavy smoke and flames coming from the building. Immediately, an offensive approach was taken to stop and suppress the fire from further spreading,” the officer noted.

A third fire tender was later dispatched to support the initial response as firefighters worked to bring the situation under control.

McDonald explained that the structure involved in the fire had not been in use for some time.

“The building is unoccupied. For quite some time, it housed inmates, but based on reports, the building is unoccupied,” he said. He added that the building contained no equipment nor furniture, noting that debris and garbage were scattered across the floor.”

“There is nothing in the building. The building is just there with a standing structure… mainly garbage lies on the floor, no appliances,” he stated.

Investigators are currently working to determine the exact cause of the fire, but early indications suggest it may have been an electrical fire.

“As for the cause of the fire, we’re still conducting an investigation, but preliminarily it looks like it’s electrical in nature,” McDonald said.

Despite visible smoke during the firefighting operation, the officer stressed that the situation had been brought under control and posed no further danger.

“There is no imminent threat. All the threats have been eliminated. The fire cannot spread anymore,” he said. He also credited the quick response by firefighters for limiting the damage to only part of the structure.

“If you notice, just a section of that building is destroyed. Another section is still standing, so you can see due to a quick response,” McDonald added.