Fire guts Regent Street Store

Regent Street fire destroys fabric store
-- millions of dollars in losses
By Shirley Thomas

A FIRE of unknown origin but which is believed to have been electrical in nature yesterday gutted a business place on Regent Street, Georgetown and it was only through the gallant efforts by firefighters that a major catastrophe was averted in the very busy shopping hub.

ON FIRE: The West Half Fashion Store on Regent Street.

Millions of dollars worth of clothing and other articles and appliances went up in flames in the fire that reportedly broke out on the bottom floor of the two-flat ‘West Half Fashion Fabric World’, located at 140, Regent and Light Streets, shortly after 17:00 hrs yesterday afternoon.

Onlookers converge behind barriers to view the building being consumed by fire.

It was the gallant, determined and altruistic fire fighting efforts on the part of firemen who disregarded their personal safety, and forced their way into the blazing and smoke-filled building without protective gear, in order to bring the fire under control, that a major catastrophe in the city was avoided.

The lone building destroyed is bounded by ‘The Hardware Depot’ and ‘Value Tech’ in the east, and ‘Dhanson’s Trading’ to the south and aback of the fabric store.

The fire department responded promptly, quickly dispatching about four units to the scene. On arriving, the firemen immediately began dousing the building which was tightly locked but already well alight.

Firefighters and others using a crow-bar to pry open a window to facilitate entry into the burning garment store.

Because the business-place was heavily secured, firemen were forced to break into the concrete wall, dismantling a heavily grilled window on the front of the building, before being able to enter the bottom flat which houses the garment and fabric store.

Simultaneously, other firemen climbed onto the roof of the nearby Hardware Depot, offering a good vantage point from which to douse the burning building, as well as the outer walls of the Hardware Depot itself.

Meanwhile, in an effort to extinguish the fire already spreading quickly on the top floor of the building, serving as a bond to store merchandise, other firefighters climbed onto a ladder and forced their way through a window they forced-open, even as frightened onlookers shouted, cautioning them to retreat, since they wore no masks or oxygen tanks, and were already being choked by the thick smoke.

On entering the burning building, the firemen spared no time in breaking open louvre windows further reinforced with wooden bars, thereby enabling the smoke to leave the building.

Meanwhile, scores of mostly curious onlookers converged along Regent and Light Streets, and armed police ranks descended on the scene to offer security. The public cooperated and both firemen and police were able to carry out their tasks incident free.

GUTTED: The inside of the building after the fire yesterday.

(Adrian Narine Photos)

Proprietor of the business, Mr. Rashard Baksh is currently out of the country, but employees on the scene recalled that they were heading down the street, on their way home when they learnt of the fire. They hastily returned where they found that everything in the building had already been destroyed.

They were unable to put a value to the losses suffered, but said it ran into millions of dollars since apart from selling fabric and garments, they also sold chandeliers and other hardware items.

Meanwhile, proprietors of other nearby stores in the vicinity stood in their doorways and opposite their stores looking on nervously, and probably praying for the blaze to be controlled.

Residents in the area told reporters that it was reasonable to concede that the fire was electrical in origin, since throughout the day, they were experiencing “black outs on and off ”.

Saturday, April 25, 2009