– flattens neighbouring ‘Associated Packers’, leaves $$M in losses in its wake

A MASSIVE mid-afternoon blaze has left the owners of Associated Packers Industry and DeSinco Trading reeling, leaving in its wake millions of dollars in losses.
CEO of ‘Associated Packers’ Mahindra Jaikarran said he distinctly recalled receiving a call a little after 13:30hrs saying that a fire was in progress. He said that at the time, the store was open, and members of staff were in the building. Thankfully, they were all able to make it out of the building to safety, before the fire engulfed the building.
At the time of talking to the media, he said it was a bit too early to say where the fire really started; all he knows is that the loss is immense.

When pressed into giving an estimate of his losses, Jaikarran politely declined, saying: “No! There’s stock inside the building, such as flour, rice, and other commodity items. But an estimate of losses, that I don’t know yet.”

Of the two buildings involved in the fire, one has been destroyed in its entirety, while the other, though it is still standing, has been gutted. Both are located at the corner of John and Sheriff Streets, Campbellville, and at this time, it is unclear to the Guyana Chronicle whether either was insured. Word is that of the three fire tenders which raced to the scene, only one had water, which caused the fire to spread rapidly to the adjoining three-story building.
Spectators at the scene of the fire called out the Guyana Fire Servcie (GFS) for what they felt was a very poor performance. Businessman, Ricky Sawh, was especially vocal, saying: “This is a tremendous embarrassment for the administration of the Fire Service… They have spent millions of dollars to have the hydrants working, so I’m surprised that they are going to a trench down there to bring water here.”
Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn, who’d also made his way to the scene of the fire, after reportedly seeing “this dark cloud of smoke for over an hour” from his office way down on Brickdam, said that after realising that the blaze had not yet been under control, he decided to go take a closer look.

Minister Benn said he has grave concerns after seeing the way in which the fire was handled, as in his opinion, there were way too many firemen on the ground, and no one in direct control. He stated, however, that going forward, he would want to see businesses that keep in stock such essentials as food and oil, implementing and installing fire sprinkler systems.

Minister Benn, who was himself vocal about the way the fire was handled, said many of the firemen were claiming that a major setback was the intermittent supply of water they were receiving from the main, which was compounded by their concern about the highly flammable materials in the buildings.