Christ Church fire was arson -GFS
An investigation by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) has confirmed that last Thursday’s fire at the Christ Church Secondary School was an act of arson.
In a statement on Monday afternoon, GFS said its investigation found that an arsonist set fire to several chairs and which led to the blaze that destroyed 80 per cent of the school and its contents.
GFS added that the fire also caused damage to three nearby buildings and four vehicles.
The fire was the second to occur at the school, which is located at Camp and Middle Streets in Georgetown, in a week.
The first fire was determined to have been caused by “a chemical reaction combustion”.
“…all chemicals were removed from the building. As such, there were no chemicals in the building at the time of the second fire, which rules out the possibility that it was another chemical reaction,” GFS said.
“Furthermore, the day after the first fire at the school, Christ Church Secondary was inspected and certified by the Government Electrical Inspectorate, which rules out the possibility of the second fire being electrical in origin.”
The fire affected the education of 502 students and left 39 teachers and nine ancillary staff on the breadline.
