Fire causes extensive damage to properties in Kingstown

The speculation that a welding incident was the cause of a fire, which caused extensive damage to a number of properties in Kingstown over the weekend, was still to be confirmed by investigators up to press time, Monday, April 23.{{more}}

The blaze, which took place around midday on Saturday, April 21, in the Lower Bay Street area, destroyed the tire services centre of Eustace Auto Supplies, one residential dwelling place adjacent to the tire centre, and caused heat, smoke and minor fire damage to a number of buildings directly in the vicinity.

One truck, belonging to Eustace Auto Supplies, along with containers of new and used tires, as well as other machinery and equipment, were destroyed by the flames, which took various divisions of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, Non- Governmental Organizations, as well as civilians and personnel from the visiting French naval vessel ‘Dumant D’Urville’, hours to contain and put out.

When SEARCHLIGHT visited the area yesterday Monday, management of Eustace Auto Supplies was still busy trying to assess the cost of the damage, which is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars.

Next door to Eustace Auto Supplies, supermarket owner Randy Kennedy of Randy’s Supermarket, was thankful that the damage experienced by his business place was minimal.

The businessman, who indicated that business was back to normal, said that some of electrical and PVC equipment on the outside, at the rear of the building, took the brunt of the fire’s fury.

Kennedy thanked the men and women who fought back the flames and averted a greater disaster, as well as the customers who bolstered his confidence by encouraging him to reopen the establishment later that evening, when electricity was restored to the property.

Also expressing gratitude to the trained and untrained fire fighters on Monday was the Ministry of Education, who, through a media release thanked not only the constabulary, but also the faculty, parents, community members and other organizations that assisted in safeguarding the historic Kingstown Anglican School and its property.

Minister of Education and Deputy Prime Minister Girlyn Miguel, along with Permanent Secretary Nicole Bonadie Baker and other education officials, was also on hand on Saturday, to assist and oversee the evacuation of the building which was partially, but not significantly burnt.

As a result of Sunday’s fire, students of grade three to six were asked to remain at home on Monday, while the grade six pupils were expected to return to classes today April 24, at the Union House situated in Lower Middle Street.

Pupils of grades three to five are to remain at home until further notice.

Also suffering loss was businessman Malcolm Webb and family.

According to Webb, one section of the dwelling area was completely destroyed by the fire, while some bedrooms and an ironing room in another section was burnt out.

Other areas in the two storey building were affected by water and smoke.

Fortunately for the Webbs, the lower floor where LPG cooking gas and the renowned ‘School Boy Beer’ are sold, was not affected by the fire, thanks to the quick response of persons in the community and the firefighters.

Webb, though grateful for the assistance, and being fully aware that the situation could have been worse, believes that the real extent of damage to the family property has been overlooked.

SEARCHLIGHT was unable to ascertain the extent of damage caused by the fire, to the SVG General Services building located next to the Webb building and a boutique situated near the burnt out tire centre.

Police investigations are continuing.