Mid-afternoon blaze destroys top flat of Fireside Suites

A fire broke out earlier today at the Fireside Suites on Garnett Street in Georgetown.

The mid-afternoon blaze at Fireside Suites on Garnett Street

The mid-afternoon blaze started sometime around 14:50h on the roof of the three-storey building, where the power room – which contained air conditioning units and generators – was located.

Thick black smoke was seen billowing from the top of the building. The fire caused extensive damage.

A tenant in the next-door residence, Wadzanai Kanongovere – a Zimbabwe national, related that he was alerted to the fire by another neighbour and they rushed to safety.

According to the man, the firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after and were able to quickly contain the flames from spreading.

“I would like to commend the fire brigade, they came in quickly; like four or five minutes since this guy alerted me, they came in and they just put out the fire,” he told reporters.

The aftermath of the fire

Meanwhile, Fire Chief, Gregory Wickham, explained that after the report was received at about 14:53h, a fire tender arrived at the scene within three minutes and two others were subsequently dispatched.

“They were able to bring the fire under control and stop it from spreading. Also, we had to use the Bronto Skylift where our firefighters were lifted up into the air to do overhead firefighting. That would have actually [helped to] contain and extinguish the blaze.”

“Now, they’re doing what we call ‘mopping up’ of the little pockets of smoke that they’re seeing on the roof, and that’s gonna bring an end to [the response efforts]. After that, we’re going to do our investigation to determine what really caused the fire,” the Fire Chief told reporters at the scene late this afternoon.

The Bronto Skylift in use

Wickham would not say what the preliminary findings are but lauded his firefighters as well as those who reported the inferno.

“Credit must be given to the firefighters. I want to also applaud the person who would’ve alerted the Fire Service because fire doesn’t really wait on anyone and time is of importance. So, the earlier we get these calls, we’ll be able to get a quicker response,” the Fire Chief added.