Next year before cause of New Budget fire known

The cause of the fire which did extensive damage to the operations of New Budget Supplies Hardware Limited at 195 Hagley Park Road, St Andrew, on Friday night into Saturday morning is not likely to be known until next year, according to public relations officer at the Jamaica Fire Brigade, Emeleo Ebanks.

Responding to the query for an update on the fire which destroyed the administrative office and an adjoining storeroom and warehouse, he said it is too early to know.

“Investigations take months, so you won’t get anything before February/March,” he disclosed.

Ebanks was not able to verify reports that firefighters were hampered by the low volume of water from the hydrants along Hagley Park Road and so were forced to get water from other sources.

“I didn’t get any reports about that, so I can’t confirm that,” he told The Gleaner.

However, a firefighter in the know insisted that the first unit which responded from Trench Town was on location by 9:06 p.m., and on realising that the blaze was beyond its control called for additional units, which came from Rollington Town, Half-Way Tree, and as far as Waterford and Spanish Town in St Catherine.

He said that overall, an estimated 56 firefighters from eight stations responded, but their efforts to bring the fire under control were impacted by the inadequate water flow from the hydrants along Hagley Park Road, forcing them to source water from other hydrants across the Corporate Area.

On Saturday morning, even as firefighters conducted cooling-down operations, cashiers were doing a thriving business selling hardware items to customers who turned up to do business, having not heard about the fire. Owner Robert Dabdoub explained the rationale for the opening under such adverse conditions.

“We want to show that you might be down, but you are still not out, so you still have to fight,” he told our news team.

The building was not insured, but the businessman was grateful that no one was injured.