At risk buildings must be identified
Editorial
The devastation caused by another huge fire in the waterfront area of Georgetown is bound to spark a flurry of activity in official circles on strategies to contain this trend. What is needed is sustained action and tangible measures and this has to come from the Guyana Fire Service, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the government. When a blaze destroyed the exquisite pinewood Park Hotel on May 6 it rekindled the urgency of acting upon the fire-prone nature of our capital city and bringing it into the 21st century perspective. Two conflagrations, just over four months part, have decimated a huge section of the city bordered by Water, Mundy, Bentinck and Main streets and threatened other areas. In an already tight economic situation heavy losses have been incurred, people have been put out of work and the fire insurance industry must be totting up the follow through on its premiums and its risk. These recent big fires have emphasised how vulnerable predominantly wooden buildings are and each owner of wooden structures faces this dangling Sword of Damocles. The various courses of action to be taken are well known. They bear repeating for emphasis. The first area is the retooling of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS). The GFS needs more and improved fire-fighting equipment. Not long ago hoses deployed at a fire scene were riddled with holes and new ones had to be donated by a member of the public. Clearly more fire tenders are needed together with more manpower and a new fire station not as encumbered as the present one is. Invariably once a fire catches hold of a wooden structure such as the one yesterday it is doomed. But everything hinges on the crucial seconds between the fire brigade being alerted and its arrival on the scene. Clearing the fire station area would certainly help and another perennial problem of low water pressure has to be addressed. This latter problem was experienced yesterday. The second issue is strictly enforcing the building code and ensuring new and standing structures are in compliance. The haphazard erection of buildings in all parts of the city with little attention to building regulations poses a severe fire risk. Cluttered wooden structures without the mandatory distance in residential and commercial areas pose dangers to entire blocks. The fire department must take a close look at these. A third concern is that of the fire precautions that have to be taken in these high-risk buildings and whether or not inspections need to be stepped up. Clearly many of these buildings do not meet minimum fire-fighting requirements. They don't have the requisite number of fire extinguishers, their wiring isn't frequently reviewed, they engage in practices that pose fire hazards etc. A roster of wooden and other buildings at risk should be prepared and more frequent inspections should be done. In the aftermath of the Park Hotel fire, Home Affairs Minister Gajraj had signalled a stream of measures to diminish the risk of fires. These included the immediate inspection of public buildings with attention to fire escapes and water sprinklers. Water tanks were also to be installed. These are moves in the right direction and should be expanded to touch all edifices at risk. Fourthly, as we stated in these columns recently, we have to do much better at determining the causes of these fires before we can effectively fight them. Are the fires due to poor internal wiring, swingeing fluctuations in the voltage supplied by the power company, careless practices, arson? Spontaneous combustion, maybe? Too many of these fires have occurred without reasonable explanations and it has lent to a disturbing grey area. It is uncanny that two major fires occurred within a stone's throw of each other. What postulates will the fire chief and other investigators come up with to explain this coincidence? What about the two Courts fires? We agree that it is all too easy to ask the questions that we are asking and we recognize that there are no straightforward questions. Yet, the authorities must upturn the pattern of "cause unknown", get beneath the surface and provide the answers.
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