Fire at century-old church in Canje was deliberate – Divisional Fire Officer

A fire that completely destroyed the century-old St. Patrick’s Church on Thursday morning in East Canje Berbice was deliberately set. This is according to the Divisional Officer for the Guyana Fire Service, Clive Mc Donald.

Mc Donald told reporters that the first started at about 04:30hrs. Two fire tenders were dispatched but upon arrival, the building was already engulfed in flames.

Preliminary investigations by the Guyana Fire Service revealed that the fire was in the building for quite some time but taking into consideration that the structure is old and over 100 years old, the fire quickly spread.

“It is really a sad day given that the building is over 100 years old.

“It’s sad we lost a historical building in this. Thus far, preliminary investigation shows that it was deliberate,” Mc Donald said.

According to Mc Donald, the building has not been in use for the past 5-6 months and it was without electricity.