Early morning fire destroys section of Chase Academy

A section of Chase Academy, a privately owned secondary school located on Parade Street, Kingston, Georgetown was Tuesday destroyed by fire. Apart from damage to the building “all school records” were lost, Kaieteur News was told.

According to reports, the blaze started sometime after 02:00hrs. The livein security, William Arthur, told reporters that he was on the corridor of the building when he noticed thick smoke emanating from the principal’s office. The man said he turned off the main power switch of the building and rushed downstairs to investigate. Once there, he said, he started to remove a few window panes and realized that the principal’s office was on fire.

Arthur said that he singlehandedly tried to contain the flames with water from a nearby stand-pipe but it was too much for him. He was forced to retreat. An alarm was raised and contact was made with the fire department. Fire fighters arrived promptly and sprang into action to contain the blaze. They were successful in preventing its spread to two other buildings in the compound. When Kaieteur News visited the scene it was revealed that the fire might have originated in a room on the bottom flat and then spread upwards in a diagonal manner.

Henry Chase, the principal and proprietor of the school, told Kaieteur News that as soon as the investigations are over, the necessary repairs and reconstruction will begin. There were reports that suggested that students’ School Based Assessments (SBAs) were destroyed in the inferno. To this Chase assured, “No! SBAs were already processed and forwarded to the relevant authorities.” However, he did note that “we have lost all school records.” Chase Academy has been in operation for more than a decade in Georgetown producing a number of top performing students.

(Kaieteur News)