BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AN officer of Her Majesty’s Prison was rushed to the Joseph N. France General Hospital earlier today (May 12) having suffered burns resulting from an explosion that took in the penal institution.
Fire Chief Everette O’Garro explained to SKNVibes that a unit from the Basseterre Fire Department responded to a report of a fire at the Prison, but on arrival the fire had already been extinguished.
He explained however that, according to information received from his subordinates, a SOL truck was delivering propane gas to the prison when the explosion took place. He said he also understood that a stove to which the propane tank is connected was in operation when the product was being transferred.
“SOL, at the time, was delivering propane gas to the Prison with a delivery truck that they have, with a hose reel on it that would lead into the Prison and connect to the huge tank that they have there. They were doing the refilling operation while cooking at the same time. The stove used for cooking and the tank are in proximity. Gas was leaking from the connection from the SOL truck hose to the Prison storage tank. Gas leaked into the area there until it came into contact with the open flame on the stove and so there was a fire explosion in the area.”
Fire Chief O’Garro said he understands that a Prison Officer was “badly injured” during the incident and suffered burns to his chest, arms and abdomen.
The Prison Officer is believed to be from the Shadwell area.
O’Garro expressed some of the concerns in which the refilling operation was handled by the gas company.
“Our information indicated that no official from SOL Company was on the inside of the Prison and it appears that the Prison Officer was responsible for making the connection from the hose of the SOL truck to the propane cylinder. We feel that is wrong and should be done by the SOL representative! They have to make sure that the connection is properly secured.
“From a Fire Services perspective, we view operations like this as being extremely, extremely dangerous and, therefore, we expect the appropriate type of safety measures to be applied.”
SKNVibes called Her Majesty’s Prison to speak with the Superintendent but was told he is on leave and the Second-in-Command was not in his office.
