Eyewitnesses: No water again
EYEWITNESSES to yesterday evening’s fire on Frederick Street in downtown Port-of-Spain lamented the lack of water supply to battle the blaze which raged for more than an hour. The fire gutted two three-storey buildings which housed Naughty Girls, the Local Assembly of Christian Believers Church, a DVD outlet, Shoe World, and partially destroyed Republic Bank. While firemen struggled with leaking hoses, the hundreds who gathered complained bitterly. "Once the bank eh burn, them fire officers good, they eh studying the other buildings." Another shouted, "is an electrical fault." When the fire spread to the building which housed Shoe World, echoes of "ohh" were heard. The heat and popping sounds emanating from the fire caused people to scamper, while the few police officers demanded they step further back. Amid the shouts about how best the fire could be controlled, acting DCP Winston Cooper was barking instructions on his cell phone for barriers to cordon off Hart Street. The barriers never materialised. Instead, yellow crime scene tape arrived shortly before 7 pm and was stretched from the fence of the Trinity Cathedral to Woodford Square. The square was closed off and at 6.40 pm the electricity supply in the area was cut. At 6.42 pm, a loud explosion was heard on Hart Street. However, curious spectators soon realised it was only part of the stage for today’s launch of downtown Carnival which had tumbled down. Nadine Ram, an employee of Mode Alive, a building which escaped the raging blaze, looked on in horror at the scene. She told Newsday that she and other employees were closing the store at 5.30 pm, when they saw sparks from the second floor of the building which housed Naughty Girls. She said she called the Fire Services but stressed, "they took too long to arrive."
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"Eyewitnesses: No water again"