Arson suspected in Oropouche blaze

Quick response from fire officers attached to the Siparia Fire Station prevented a $2.5 million chemical warehouse facility from going up in flames on Boxing Day. According to police reports, clouds of thick, black smoke were seen coming from the Hexagon Chemical Ltd main warehouse building at 96 Naranjit Road, Mon Daisie Road in Oropouche at about 9 pm Sunday night.

Neighbours immediately called business owner Latiff Ramatally and the Siparia Fire Station. The fire officers quickly extinguished the fire which was later found to have started with mounds of old tyres and pieces of wood stacked in front of a gaping four-foot hole at the far side of the building.  While full of praise for fire officers, Ramatally said the incident was extremely suspicious, as fire officers had also discovered a metal barrel containing a highly flammable substance at the centre of the fire.

While he was hesitant to blame anyone, he said several threats had been made against the company, which wholesales divali oil, Bay Rum and disinfectants, by “uneducated, illiterate persons” from the area. He said villagers had often accused the company’s vehicles of damaging the single access road. Ramatally said Siparia Regional Corporation Chairman, Seebaran Santokie, had promised to provide some materials to patch the road. Officers from the Oropouche Police Station are continuing investigations.