De Nobriga building gutted by early morning blaze

“What can I do now? Everything is gone.”

This question was asked many times over, as the sun came up on a charred, gutted-out DeNobriga’s building, by a number of persons who were left jobless following Monday night’s fire.{{more}}

The blaze left close to ten businesses out of commission, as it swept through the building situated at Upper Bay Street.

At around 11 p.m. on Monday night, the alarm was raised by a ship in Kingstown harbour, alerting police to a fire in the area. By about 2 a.m. on Tuesday it was all over, the fire had burnt itself out.

Most of the people affected by the fire turned up at daylight, some to clean and salvage, but most, just to look on and wonder, since there was nothing left for them to redeem.

Staff members of La Chic Beauty Salon, owned by June DeNobriga-Huggins turned up at the charred building to console each other and count their losses.

“My airbrush set, my facial equipment, everything lost!” one visibly upset employee was heard saying.

The salon employed four women who were uncertain what the next day was going to bring.

The building also housed a land surveying office and a number of shipping agencies; all their documents were destroyed.

Some staff members of one agency, Trevorline’s Enterprise, turned up to console each other and their boss Trevorline Matthews, who, although she appeared devastated was still hopeful.

“I have to be strong to get through this,” she said. “I have been doing this business for ten years, this is all I have. I started on the street and worked my way up. I believe I can do it again.”

When Searchlight caught up with Trevorline, she had already begun preparation to clear customers’ barrels and parcels at the customs.

The two most fortunate businesses were those situated on the ground floor of the four-storey building.

The DeNobrigas, operators of an ice cream parlor situated on the ground floor, were able to salvage some stock that survived the flames and move the goods to safer, colder storage.

The stock of the Nader Trading boutique, also on the ground floor, suffered some heat and water damage, but the boutique was spared the worst of the inferno.

The most fortunate, given the circumstances, were the supermarket and wholesale departments of CK Greaves and Company Ltd, which are housed in buildings located on either side of the 40-year-old landmark.

Although C.K. Greaves and Company Ltd was still closed to business up to press time, the company expressed thanks through the press to the fire-service and the police department for their speedy response, and to staff members and the general public for their help.

However, some bystanders at Monday night’s fire and again on Tuesday, loudly lamented what appeared to be the lack of preparedness by the local fire department.

At press time, the damage was estimated to be in the millions, and what makes matters worse, some of the businesses were not insured.

Investigations into the cause of the fire are still ongoing by the police.