Park Hotel fire raises concerns about Fire Service's capacity
Concerns have been raised as to the capacity of the Guyana Fire Service to handle major conflagrations, in the wake of Saturday's fire at Park Hotel. The fire which destroyed the three-storey historic Bentick Wing and other sections of the Park Hotel highlighted the lack of modern resources at the disposal of the national fire fighting force. On Saturday, the GFS was said to have arrived on the scene some five to ten minutes after it received the call and to have taken a further 15 minutes to get its act together. As the pine wood structure became consumed by the flames, members of the GFS were busy fighting with their hoses and with the supply of water which hindered their immediate response. When Stabroek News arrived on the scene, firemen, who, it seemed, had arrived a short time before, were frantically attaching their hoses to a hydrant located at the corner of Main and Bentick streets. Others were busy scurrying around trying to assess other resources to assist in the extinguishing of the fire. When the fire fighters, many with only helmets and little protective gear, finally got the water to run through their hoses, they were only able to aim these at a height which was at least one floor below where the fire was. As the inferno consumed the entire top floor, the firemen, assisted by some members of the public, entered the courtyard of the hotel to better fight it, but were forced to back out by the sheer intensity of the heat. The fire, which was at this time threatening the northern wing, leaped wildly into the air and the crew from the fire department decided to attack the flame from the adjacent yard to the north of the hotel. An abandoned building on that site became the new focus of attention as the fire brigade personnel sought to avert further disaster in the event of the flames heading north in the direction of the Guyana Power and Light Inc. Attempts were being made to aim the water at the northern wing of the hotel as the flames began to catch onto the roof of that building. Meanwhile, another hose was put into action at the corner of Bentick and Main streets where another group of fire fighters were attempting to douse the flames that were threatening the New Thriving Restaurant on the ground floor. The Bentick wing, reportedly the oldest section of the building, was consumed in a matter of minutes. The heat from the burning pinewood caused the crowd, which had gathered, to seek safer vantage points from where to view the conflagration. A short time after, police ranks arrived on the scene and went into action. Commanded by senior ranks including Force Commissioner, Laurie Lewis, and 'A' Division Commander, Henry Greene, they established road blocks at the northern and southern sections of the Main Street carriage way and the Middle and Bentick streets area. On a number of occasions firemen attempted to move closer to the building but had to consider the possibility that the propane gas stored on the premises might explode. It was some two hours after the start of the fire at 1415 hrs that fire department officials were finally able to bring the situation under control. ... Investigations continuing Meanwhile, contacted by Stabroek News yesterday for an update on the department's progress in probing the cause of the blaze, Fire Chief, Tulsi John, stated that his men were up to 1600 hrs yesterday still working at the Main Street site in an effort to unearth clues. John said that so far investigations had been inconclusive. Shift Manager of the Park Hotel, Thomas Munroe, said yesterday that the main wing had three levels, the ground floor containing the lobby and Chinese restaurant, the first floor which housed the lower conference room and the ballroom, the second floor had some unprepared or unused rooms and the third floor which was closed off. The hotel, which was said to be over 111 years old, was also one of only three buildings in the country to have had a dome. It was, in colonial times, the exclusive domain of the rich and famous. The Kissoons who took possession of the property in the 1970s did a lot of work to enhance its surroundings and extended its room capacity to 90 from the previous 30. (Oscar P. Clarke)
Park Hotel fire
Jamaican photographer's possession looted Of the few guests who were at the Park Hotel and who lost their belongings, four have so far sought compensation from the owners of the property which was gutted on Saturday shortly after noon. Meanwhile, three Jamaicans, two Surinamese and one American who were guests at the hotel at the time of the fire and who lost their passports were granted travel documents which would enable them to leave the country, Police Public Relations Officer, Senior Superintendent Ivelaw Whittaker, said. According to Asha Kissoon-Roberts of the Kissoon Group of Companies, the majority of the guests left the country the following day. A number of them, she said, expressed sympathy to the Kissoon family for the loss of the hotel which was the oldest in the city. She said that the insurance company had already begun to process the claims and urged those affected by the fire to furnish the Kissoon Group with their information, so that the company could file their claims. Meanwhile, she said that the police were doing all they could to assist. The majority of the guests were either Guyanese or West Indian nationals who had come to Guyana to see the first Test Match between the West Indies and Pakistan. Kissoon-Roberts disputed reports that all the belongings of those who were at the Georgetown Cricket Club Ground at Bourda at the time of the fire were burnt. Some of the things were taken over to the Kissoons' property on Main Street and were subsequently retrieved by their owners. Unfortunately, some of the visitors' belongings were looted. Among the victims were Jamaican sports photographer H.G. 'Delimar' Samuels who lost his passport and other documents, a camera and clothes, not to the fire, but to persons who were taking advantage of the situation. Among those who left on the afternoon of the fire was Trinidadian businessman Ian Nauth, who did not jump from his hotel room as was incorrectly reported by Stabroek News in yesterday's edition. Another person believed to be a guest had jumped from a window of the hotel during the fire, based on eyewitness reports. Speaking with this newspaper from Trinidad yesterday, Nauth said that he was probably the last of the guests to evacuate the burning Martin Wing of the hotel on Main Street. Expressing concern about the safety of guests, Nauth said that no one alerted him about the fire and he only knew that something was wrong when he heard the sound of galvanised sheets "crackling". He said he had earlier decided to return to Trinidad the same afternoon and had stayed in his room Number 313 to make arrangements to return. He had arrived in Guyana on Thursday. Nauth said that he had planned to get up at 1330 hrs but after resting awhile, he decided to get up 1200 so that he could go down to the New Thriving Restaurant and have a meal before going to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri. The guest said that when he got into the bathroom to shave and shower he found that the electricity supply had been cut and with it water. He said that he used bottled water to wash himself. He tried calling the switchboard but only got a humming sound in return. Shortly afterwards, Nauth said, he heard "crackling sounds" and decided to investigate. He said he got the shock of his life when he opened the door, looked east up the corridor and saw that black smoke had engulfed the area and yellow flames licking their way through. He could not see the door of Room 312 which was east of his room. Nauth said that he dashed back into his room grabbed a shirt, a pair of shoes, a carry-on and his travel documents and some money and ran westward as the eastern end of the building was already engulfed with smoke and flames. He ran down what he believed was the fire-escape to the ground floor, but when he got there it was only to discover the exit padlocked. He said that a guard who was in the area saw him in the building and asked him to stand back while he kicked at the glass and aluminium door to break it. The guard, he said, told him to be careful about walking on the broken glass but Nauth said all he cared about was getting out. He said he never even thought about putting on his shoes. The guard, he said, expressed astonishment that he was still in the building and asked him if anyone else was there. Nauth said that on leaving the third floor, his thoughts were on whether there were other persons trapped in the building. He said that the guard sent him out through the back gate where he was stationed trying to keep people out. He had left the building by 1225 hrs, he said. Nauth said the guard left him on Bentick Street and he was immediately surrounded by a group of rough looking men who told him not to leave. He said that he was not sure whether they were going to help him or whether they were thugs. Nevertheless, he said, a man approached the group and relieved him from them. This man, a Guyanese businessman, who preferred anonymity told Stabroek News that he saw that Nauth was in a complete state of shock and offered to help. He took him to Patrick's Taxi Service on Cowan Street, from where he was transported to the airport. Nauth said that he arrived at the airport at 1330 hrs. Reiterating his concern about the fire, Nauth said that he was very disturbed that there was no fire alarm system and that no one knocked on his door. In addition, he said that he had noted that there were no fire extinguishers in the area where he stayed. Kissoon-Roberts, however, told Stabroek News that all the patrons in the hotel were alerted. Shift Manager Thomas Munroe told this newspaper that the hotel was equipped with extinguishers, sand buckets and fire hoses in all wings except the aged Bentick wing which only had extinguishers and buckets. These he stated were used in the attempts by staff including himself in trying to douse the flames that had caught on the room of the lower conference room on the first floor of the Bentick wing.
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