CSO to resume normal operations after fire forces evacuation
Published:Tuesday | October 24, 2023 | 12:09 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
OPERATIONS AT the Jamaica Post’s Central Sorting Office (CSO) on South Camp Road in Kingston were not significantly impacted by a fire which razed a section of the building and forced the suspension of services yesterday.
As such, services will resume today, said Postmaster General Lincoln Allen who spoke with The Gleaner while members of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) continued to conduct its cooling-down exercises.
He stated that there was “no loss suffered in terms of our valuable mail” from the blaze which started sometime after 9 a.m.
According to Allen, the fire originated near an old air-conditioning condenser at the back of the building.
A spark from the fire spread through a window into a bag room where old mail is kept until it is disposed of properly.
Although Allen expressed relief that there were no fatalities and that every employee had been safely evacuated, he said, “Unfortunately, because of the smoke and the fire and the negative impact on staff, we closed our operations to facilitate the fire brigade putting out the fire in its entirety.”
He commended the York Park, Trench Town and Rollington Town fire stations for their quick response to the fire and assistance in putting it out.
Stewart Beckford, the commissioner of the JFB, who was also at the scene, reported that sparks from the fire had entered the storage area through a vent and spread from the garbage area at the back of the building.
Even while the exact cause of the fire is still unknown, he stated that unofficial reports suggest that someone of unsound mind is believed to have unintentionally started the fire.
UNFORTUNATE SITUATION
A little before midday, Beckford stated that there was no fire threat to the other sections of the building as the flames were contained and only affected the storage room.
He further indicated that the JFB would assist the postmaster general and his team with ventilation to ensure that operations could resume today.
Stewart expressed how “unfortunate” the situation was to have had affected the day’s operation of “CSO, a very important institution in the lives of every Jamaican and we know that any disruption that takes place here today would set their operations back.
“But we are pretty much equipped to treat with it and we have been doing that successfully. That is why we were able to quickly contain it and prevent it from spreading to other section of the buildings,” he said.
At the time, an estimate of the damage could not be provided.
NO FATALITIES
Dr Dana Morris Dixon, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with direct oversight for skills and digital transformation, expressed sympathies to those located within the area that would have been affected by the fire and the plumes of smoke which blanketed the air.
“We are really very devastated that that would have happened, but we are very grateful that there were no fatalities and that the fire was contained really quickly through the work of the Jamaica Post team, especially their facilities team that worked so quickly and also the quick response from Jamaica Fire Brigade,” she said.
A few people who were ill as a result of the fire were transported to the nearby Kingston Public Hospital.
Unfortunately, the car carrying the sick people got into an accident on North Street.
The ill were taken to the hospital after the police were called to the site.