The damaged bridge.
April 22 2019
A mysterious fire on Saturday morning destroyed a bridge utilised by farmers to transport their produce in Canal No.2 West Bank Demerara and an investigation has been launched by the Guyana Fire Service to determine the cause.
On a visit to the community yesterday, residents explained that they learnt of the fire after seeing a fire truck passing through the village.
About a quarter of the bridge was destroyed by the fire making the bridge inoperative. The bridge is located in an inhabited area. Residents suggested that fire was set to the bridge since several planks and section of the beams were destroyed.
A resident opined that if it was a forest fire more vegetation would have been destroyed. “If you watch that bridge you can see it look like if someone set fire to it because of how it burn. The fire looks as if it started on the bridge before it spread other parts,” a resident related.
Another resident told Stabroek News that while the community suspect the fire was set to the bridge, she learnt of it when the fire service was responding. She explained that her initial thought was a wild fire since such occurrence is frequent.
A number of farmers who use the bridge to transport their produce and to access their farms will be affected by the fact that the bridge is now inoperable.
While it was confirmed that the fire service has launched an investigation no official comment was forth coming.
