Preliminary investigations, into Friday morning’s fire at the Fogarty’s Building in Georgetown, found that it was caused by a faulty extractor fan in the kitchen of the Rose Bud Cafeteria on the ground floor.
This is according to Fire Chief Marlon Gentle.
“Something went wrong in the kitchen but I don’t think it’s a cooking appliance. We believe it’s an electrical fan – one of these extractor fans,” he told reporters at the scene this morning.
Gentle also related that the Fire Service received several calls around 09:30h about smoke emanating from the building, which houses a number of small businesses on the ground floor.
Fire tenders were dispatched from the Central Fire Station at Stabroek, Alberttown and West Ruimveldt Fire Stations along with the newly acquired Fire Boat.
“When they got here, they encountered heavy smoke conditions on the lower floor with smoke creeping into the upper floors. We were able to go into a quick-attack mode and locate the fire somewhere in the kitchen. The fire was already spreading through the ceiling and going into the business area of the store. The crews managed to isolate the fire, attacked it and suppressed it,” the Fire Chief stated.
After putting out the blaze, investigators from the Fire Service inspected the kitchen area where it started.
Firefighters had to ventilate the building in order to ensure there were no other pockets of fire and clear the heavy pockets of smoke.
INews understands that store owners, operating on the ground floor, have been given clearance to reenter the building.
While the extent of the damages from inside the building is unknown, at least one clothing store at the back of the building – Noor Islamic Wear – was damaged.
Meanwhile, one businesswoman, Sandra Narine, who currently rents a section of the back of Fogarty’s building as a storage bond, reported that stocks in her bond were spared by this morning’s fire.
