A Chinese-owned supermarket at Barnwell, East Bank Essequibo was last evening destroyed by fire.
See statement from the Guyana Fire Service on the incident:
On June 27, 2024, at approximately 19:22 hrs, the Fire Service received a call reporting a fire at Lot 2 Barnwell, East Bank Essequibo.
Firefighters arrived on the scene at 19:50 hrs, with the first jet deployed at 19:51 hrs.
The response included water tenders 81 and 84, along with crews led by Station Officer (ag) Bowen, Leading Fireman Manjet, and six other firefighters. A total of 9,274 liters of water was utilized in the firefighting efforts.
The affected structure was a two-floor timber and concrete building. It was occupied by Ms. Aria Chen, aged 29, and owned by Mr. Vickram Ramai, aged 47, of Lot 198 Block ‘A’ Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo. Unfortunately, the building and its contents were completely destroyed, rendering one person homeless.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the fire started when gas from a faulty, leaking propane cylinder came into contact with naked flames, igniting nearby combustible materials and spreading throughout the building.
The fire was extinguished using one jet from water tender #84, two jets from Light Pump #A06, and one jet from water tender #81 operating from an open water source.
