The Guyana Water Inc's (GWI) investigation into last week's devastating Lombard Street fire has found that six of the hydrants in the vicinity worked and that the water pressure reached fire-fighting capacity at 11 pm - around an hour after the blaze had well and truly ignited.
Only one hydrant was not in working order due to damage by a vehicle. GWI said too that the activities of vandals made the operation of the fire hydrants more difficult than usual and considerable cleaning had to be done before the hydrants could be made effective.
The fire last week Thursday, which eventually destroyed Royal Castle, Auto Supplies Company (ASCO) and Mohamed's Enterprise, started after a container truck hit a utility pole on Lombard Street, causing power lines to spark. The fire service had to source water from the Demerara River in order to fight the fire after their checking of the hydrants apparently yielded no water.
The lack of an early supply of water was heavily criticised by the public, as many felt that the Guyana Fire Service did a poor job of fighting the fire.
In a statement issued yesterday, GWI stated that the fire valve was opened and the connections to the Kitty distribution system closed off after reports of the fire on Lombard Street were received.
According to the statement, the security officer of the Shelter Belt compound recorded a report from the fire service at 10.50 pm on Thursday. The report, GWI said, was immediately passed on to the duty operator who opened the valves. At 11 pm, ten minutes after the call, the water pressure to the city had reached 20 psi (per square inch) and this, GWI said, is the normal fire-fighting requirement. The supply of water was kept at this pressure until 4:30 am the next day.
The GWI statement said that the members of the public and emergency services would be aware that GWI is operating a reduced service under normal circumstances in support of water conservation. The utility is also trying to save on energy charges. GWI noted that in the case of Georgetown, the shelter belt operates between the hours of 5 am to midday and 5 pm to 10 pm.
Reports from eyewitnesses said that the fire started shortly before 10 pm and said that when tenders from the Guyana Fire Service arrived, they found no water in the hydrants. The GWI's report raises questions as to why the fire service did not utilise the hydrants in the area after 11 pm when full water pressure had been restored.
Answering criticisms about his department's inability to contain the fire, which has resulted in losses that are estimated in excess of $1 billion, Fire Chief, Carlyle Washington, said in a Government Information Agency statement last week Friday that low water pressure, with other factors, hindered the work of the fire-fighters.
The fire chief said that water pressure was low and that was the reason there was not sufficient water in the hydrants. This statement is now at odds with the GWI report that normal water pressure was reached at 11 pm.
Washington said his fire-fighters sourced water from the Demerara River via the Georgetown stelling, and a vehicle was dispatched to the shelter belt to have the water pressure in the area increased. Washington also said the telephone system in the area had been disrupted so it was difficult to contact the Shelter belt.
The PNCR has said that it is unfair to blame the fire service for the disaster, since it is bereft of resources and lacked the support of the other agencies.
The owners of Royal Castle, Auto Supplies and Mohamed's Enterprise, have indicated their intention to rebuild their businesses. Engineers are to do an evaluation of the Mohamed's Enterprise building to determine whether the structure is stable enough to begin reconstruction.
The launch of a new Royal Castle outlet on Sheriff Street, which was planned for next year, has been speeded up and ASCO says it is open for business at a temporary Queens-town location. Both companies have promised to keep the public informed as plans progress.