Fire sleuths seek cause of Henry Street blaze
by Amanda Wilson
INVESTIGATORS attached to the Guyana Fire Service are now combing the debris for clues to ascertain the cause of yesterday morning's blaze at the Hilton Crest International Hotel, Henry Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown.
The fire, which started at around 07:50 hours (7:50 a.m.), destroyed the lower flat of the three-storeyed building at Lot 12 Henry Street. Damage to property and the loss of personal effects are estimated to run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Fortunately, no one was injured. Guests occupying the upper flats of the building were evacuated during the chaos.
One guest said he was in his room when he heard someone screaming, "Fire! Fire!"
"I did not know the fire was on the lower flat of the hotel I was staying in. I thought it was one of the neighbouring houses on fire," the man said.
According to him, he was shocked when he realised the hotel was on fire.
Another guest said when she looked outside her room she saw smoke in the hallway.
"The smoke was in the hallway when I looked outside my room. The firemen were already on the scene when I ran out of the building," the woman said.
Diana Bowen, proprietor of the business, said the fire started in a back room on the lower flat which her daughter, Patricia Hodge, occupies.
The woman said she was at the front of the building when she smelled smoke and thought it was an electrical problem.
She explained that a wire in the hotel sometimes sparks and she thought that the wire was the cause of the smoke.
"When I check the back of the building I saw smoke coming out of Patricia's room. The mattress was on fire when I entered the room. I started screaming for the workers in the building," Bowen recalled.
The businesswoman added that no one was in the room at the time of the blaze.
"Everyone was confused. I started throwing water on the mattress but after three buckets, the smoke engulfed the room and I could not see where to throw the water," Bowen said.
According to her, shortly afterwards, the fire moved to the other rooms.
"A number of documents were destroyed. Nothing in that room was saved," the woman said.
Hodge explained that guests only occupy the two upper storeys of the concrete and wooden structure.
She added that the building was constructed some 12 years ago and this is their first fire.
A neighbour said he, too, heard someone screaming, "Fire! Fire!" When he looked outside he saw smoke coming from the lower flat of the business place.
Another neighbour, Ms Brenda Gittens, said after she saw smoke coming from the building she told her daughter to call the Fire Service.
When the Chronicle visited the scene, investigators were combing through the fragments looking for clues.
 Follow the goings-on in Guyana
|