Fire service capacity to be enhanced Buildings for inspection Guyana Chronicle May 15, 2000 The Ministry of Home Affairs has set in train a number of initiatives to enhance the capability of the Guyana Fire Service in the wake of the recent Park Hotel conflagration. Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj told Stabroek News on Saturday that among these initiatives would be immediate inspections of public buildings, including hotels, to ensure that where there were fire escapes these could be accessed easily, as well as to see that water sprinkler systems were installed where appropriate. Gajraj contended that it would be defeating the purpose for which the fire escapes had been established if they could not provide an easy route of escape from a building which was on fire. The minister said too that at some of these buildings water tanks would be installed to provide a ready source of water in addition to that contained in the fire tenders arriving at a scene of a fire. He said that the water in the tanks could be tapped while the firemen sought to establish a continuous source of water with which to fight a fire. Another initiative, he said, was to acquire a small Land Rover-type fire tender which could be used in the squatting areas, pointing out that the roadways in these areas made access difficult for the regular fire tenders. In addition, efforts were being made to upgrade the fire fighting capacity at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, adding that Transport Minister, Tony Xavier was leading the efforts in this regard. Gajraj said too that Xavier was engaged in discussions with other organisations about acquiring two more fire tenders and that he was also involved in discussions about re-establishing a fire brigade presence in the Essequibo. The organisation of the Fire Service was also being reviewed with the objective of making maximum use of the resources at its disposal. The blaze at the Park Hotel two Saturdays ago tested the capacity of the fire service to its fullest and it was due to its strategic approach to containing the fire that it was prevented from spreading beyond the Park Hotel compound. At that fire seven tenders turned out from various parts of Georgetown and from the East Coast Demerara and were deployed at strategic points around the area to ensure that it could be contained, despite the radiated heat from the burning hotel, the presence of a large dieselene tank in the compound and the strong wind which was blowing at the time. Both the Park Hotel and the New Thriving restaurant on Main Street were obliterated by the blaze.