By Shanique Richards
St. Kitts Reporter
Fire and Rescue responded to a report of a fire in West Basseterre area at about 10: 45 a.m. on Tuesday to find the Food Center building ablaze.
A crew of firemen battled the fire at the wholesale building for about 45 minutes before they were able to get the fire completely extinguished.
According to the fire officials, a young man driving along the island’s main road in the Buckleys area at the time saw the smoke emanating from the building and quickly informed the staff present at the building that the other end of the warehouse was burning.
Ricky Bass, an employee at Food Center, told The Observer that he saw the vehicle swiftly reversing in the driveway and immediately sensed that something was wrong.
“The gentleman rushed in and asked if I knew the building was on fire and that is when I informed management,” Bass said.
Yvette Cross, sales manager of Food Center, said she contacted the Fire and Rescue Services who then responded to the call in a matter of minutes.
She also stated that the warehouse did not have any electricity so it was surprising to hear that the building was burning. She added that over the years, the company had faced a number of incidents involving theft but never a fire.
David Kawaja, president of Food Center, spoke to The Observer about the company’s loss.
“We have lost about EC$ 70,000 in stock which was very unexpected but I am glad that no one was hurt during the incident and that the fire wasn’t any worse,” he said.
He said that the company has insurance coverage that should compensate them for their loss.
Kawaja also mentioned that the section of the warehouse that was burnt contained mostly foam and plastic items such as foam containers, spoons and forks. He confirmed that there was no electricity in that area of the warehouse.
The Observer contacted James Warner, acting chief fire officer, said that from what the crew could ascertain there was no sign of forced entry.
“When the crew arrived the warehouse was open. The cause of the fire is still undetermined so I’m unable to say whether or not arson was involved. We are continuing to make inquiries at this point as we investigate what may have caused the fire.
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