Guyoil Gas Station’s bond razed

Georgetown: A fire of unknown origin razed millions of dollars’ worth of stocks at the Guyoil Gas Station, Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD) on Monday evening.
Around 20:00h, passersby noticed smoke emanating from the bond and immediately sounded an alarm. Witnesses explained that warning sirens instantly went off and workers began organising themselves to address the situation.
Eyewitnesses say the Guyana Fire Service responded promptly, within 10 minutes, and immediately began to extinguish the fire.
Curious and concerned onlookers stopped in their tracks to witness the catastrophic sight before them, expressing fear that the entire structure would blow up.
“I was in the station filling up my tank and then all I see is smoke coming out from the back. Next I know, explosions start happening and things start pitching up in the air,” a bus driver told this publication.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle told media operatives that the phones were ringing off the hook at the Guyana Fire Service as people kept calling to report the fire. He said the alarms were instantly sounded and four units responded immediately.
Right away, the firemen realised the tremendous danger of the situation and began to work diligently to prevent the flames from reaching the gas tanks.
“Four units responded…one from Diamond, one from West Ruimveldt and two units from Central Fire Station…right away we went into industrious fire-fighting operations, because we realised that this is petroleum products we were dealing with, extremely different from a basic house fire,” Gentle explained.
He noted that in excess of $4 million worth of foam and other chemicals were exhausted to contain the blaze, which destroyed thousands of dollars worth of petroleum products.
“This threat we don’t handle lightly, because it has the propensity to expand, to deteriorate or to get into a next phase very rapidly. This is petroleum products and this does not take any bluff,” Gentle remarked as he lauded the fire-fighters for a job well done.
Up to press time, he was unable to determine the origin of the fire; the investigations will commence today.