Last Updated on Saturday, 20 September 2014, 16:33 by GxMedia
Millions of Guyana dollars worth of paper, ink and printery equipment belonging to Pavnik Press were destroyed and others water-damaged as a result of a fire at a bond owned by the Guyana Chronicle on Lama Avenue, Georgetown.“Terribly, we have millions of dollars in stock and machinery,” said General Manager of Pavnik Ptress, Janettte Rameshwar when asked how the fire would affect the printery’s operations.
She said that Saturday’s fire was the first at the bond since Pavnik Press began renting the bond less than 10 years ago.
The Chronicle’s Board Room, located in the upper flat of the Sports Club building, was severely damaged by extreme heat that emanated from the bond. That section that houses the Chronicle Sports Club was largely unaffected.
General Manager of the Guyana Chronicle, Michael Gordon said the newspaper company also stored returned editions in a section of the bond.
Guyana Fire Service Divisional Officer, Colin Sparman said that among the theories being investigated is that the fire started at south-western rear of the building by a drug addict.
Fire fighters sawed sections of the bond’s wall to insert hoses of water to extinguish the blaze. Sparman said four fire tenders responded to a call at 11:02 and fighters encountered a lot of smoke due to a lot of combustible material. “I must praise the fire fighters because they saved the major part of the building and that is the area of the Sports Bar and they confined the fire to the area where the fire originated,” he added.