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| Fire Devours Downtown Horsford’s Building |
| By Sheena Brooks |
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Horsford's building |
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The downtown Basseterre building that housed the credit department of S.L. Horsford and Company Ltd. was completely destroyed by fire late Monday night.
The building, located on South Independent Square Street, was engulfed in 100-foot flames, and billows of thick, black smoke could be seen from as far as Bird Rock to the East and St. Johnston’s Village to the West.
According to Deputy Fire Chief James Warner, the Basseterre Fire Department received a call from the Police about 9:40 p.m., alerting them to the blaze.
“After receiving the call at about 21:40, a unit was dispatched to the scene downtown. Upon arrival we met the building already engulfed in flames. The situation was assessed and based on the size and intensity of the inferno, we sent for the two tenders from the airport to help oust the fire,” he told The Observer.
Warner explained that there was an imminent danger of the surrounding buildings catching fire as well. About 15 to 20 fire officers battled the flames, trying to contain it to the mostly wooden structure already being swallowed up.
“There are a number of businesses very close to the Horsford’s building and most are wooden and old, so there was definitely a threat of the fire spreading if it could not be contained quickly. The fire officers attacked the fire from all angles in an effort to keep it localized to the one building. If that fire had gotten out of control, it could have been a major disaster downtown,” Warner said.
The Deputy Fire Chief informed that the brave fire officers fought the raging fire and managed to put it out at about 11:45 p.m., although the men continued to blast water on the building’s remains until 3:00 a.m. All that was left after the fire was a gutted, flame-charred shell of the building.
“The building was totally destroyed and all of its contests lost to the fire. Luckily there were no injuries. The fire officers left a hose running at the scene to prevent any kind of re-ignition. Fire officers returned to the scene Tuesday morning and removed all of the debris from inside and made sure everything was completely out and doused,” said Warner.
He commended the efforts of the officers, stating that they acted swiftly and bravely, possibly preventing an even worse disaster. Warner also thanked the general public for its assistance with the fire fight. Up until press time the cause of the conflagration had not been determined.
“Personnel from Fire and Rescue and the Police will investigate the fire to determine the cause. At this time we do not wish to speculate about that,” Warner said.
Scores of Horsford’s employees turned out to work early Tuesday morning and lined the surrounding streets and Square along with the hundreds of curious onlookers, shock and disbelief registering on many faces. By 1:00 p.m., Horsford’s Shipping Department, located in the sister building, opened up a special section for persons to pay their hire purchase bills.
The burned building was considered a landmark in down town Basseterre, and had housed several notable businesses over its approximately 75 years in existence.
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