$5M fire destroys San Fernando mall

The building — Seukeran’s Mall on lower High Street — was a two-storey concrete structure which housed ten businesses.

Six businesses on the top floor of the building were completely destroyed by the blaze, while four on the ground floor sustained severe water damage. Most of the stores sold clothing, shoes, leather products and haberdashery. The fire rendered 50 persons jobless.

According to a report, smoke was seen by passers-by coming from the upper floor near the roof of the building at about 7.30 pm. Fire appliances from the Mon Repos and San Fernando Fire Stations responded quickly, but their efforts were hindered by lack of pressure from hydrants.

According to a fire station report, the situation was rectified when officials at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) were contacted.

The necessary valves were opened and the firemen sprung into action but, by that time, the fire had spread within the building.

Preliminary investigations by fire officers, a report stated, revealed that the fire originated from Santa’s-The Wig King store, located at the front left-hand corner in the building’s upper floor.

Fire officers suspect that electrical short-circuiting of wires may have sparked the blaze, but fire prevention officers who examined the rubble yesterday reported that that theory was inconclusive.

When asked about the water problem faced by firefighters on Wednesday night, Seukeran said that despite difficulties with the pressure, the firefighters did an extraordinary job. "I’m very impressed by the work of the firemen, at least they were able to prevent the fire from spreading to other business places on High Street," Seukeran said.

Seukeran said she was not as worried about her family’s commercial building as she was about the welfare of the mall’s tenants. Many of them had been renting for 15 years. "I’m worried if they were insured. They have to attend to their families and pay out their respective debts," Seukeran said.

San Fernando Mayor Ian Atherly was at the scene, and he issued a call for the speedy implementation of measures to deal with fires in the city. There is a great need for a hose-laying lorry, the mayor said, which would enable the pumping of water from the sea to assist in extinguishing fires.

WASA’s corporate communications manager, Karen Smart, told Newsday yesterday that the authority did exactly what was required in an emergency situation. "There was water in the system," Smart said. "However, the pressure build-up is normally released during special fire/emergency cases."