Fires wreak havoc in Corporate Area

A massive fire on Ashenheim Road in St Andrew on Tuesday ravaged two major businesses, dealing a severe blow to their operations just weeks before the busy Christmas season.

Earlier in the day, another fire at the Pearnel Charles Arcade in downtown Kingston destroyed 95 shops, affecting about 54 vendors. There has been no official cause of either blaze. Senior Superintendent Patrick Gooden, commander of the Kingston and St Andrew Division of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, said that personnel responded to the arcade fire at 7:08 a.m. There is speculation that the latter fire, which erupted about 1:28 p.m., started from a damaged light post, before rapidly spreading and engulfing the main storage area of Azan's warehouse as well as ice manufacturer Pure National Limited (PNL).

Gooden told the media that at the arcade, one unit from the Trench Town Fire Station responded, but called for backup from the Rollington Town, Half-Way Tree and York Park stations. The second fire was a bigger blaze.

"[At Ashenheim Road] on arrival of the first unit, we observed that the entire property of National Pure Ice and a warehouse containing a number of furniture items were engulfed in flames. We called for assistance from as far as Spanish Town, Port Royal, and Half-Way Tree," he told THE STAR. At that time, seven units and 65 firefighters were involved. However, they were hampered by low water pressure from hydrants, forcing units to source water as far away as Mandela Highway.

The fire has left business owners, employees and their families facing an uncertain future. Kamaal Azan, general manager of Azan's Warehouse, said he was informed by his warehouse manager about a gash on a light post.

"By the time I came down, the place was fully engulfed," he said. "We had most of our products for Christmas stored here, and it's too early to estimate the total loss. Thankfully, no lives were lost, which is the most important thing. With God's grace, we will rebuild. Over 250 people and their families depend on these jobs, so it's crucial we come back stronger."

Jeffrey Moss-Solomon, PNL executive, said the fire spread quickly, engulfing most of the company's manufacturing and storage assets.

"We are treating it as a 90 per cent loss at this time," he said. "Rebuilding won't be easy, but we know we'll come back bigger and better because we are the main ice producer in Jamaica." The National Water Commission helped to boost the pressure to the hydrants, and a well on site assisted in the operation.

Last night, Winsome Callum, director of corporate communications at Jamaica Public Service (JPS), said that while the entity received reports of the Ashenheim fire, there has so far been no report of linking JPS to the incident.

"After the fire started, JPS was called to assist the fire department by making the area safe for them to respond," said Callum. "This is a routine part of our operations - we provide support to first responders in situations like this."