Fire guts downtown supermarket

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Investigations are continuing into the cause of the fire which gutted the Queen’s Supermarket on Independence Square, Port-of-Spain, early Saturday morning.

Chief Fire Officer Arnold Bristow said an anonymous caller reported seeing flames coming from an adjacent building on George Street at around 3.48 am. Fire appliances and personnel from Brigade Headquarters, Belmont, Morvant, San Juan, Tunapuna and even as far as Mon Repos, San Fernando, were at the scene to battle the blaze but were initially hampered by low water supply in the area.

They had to evacuate three people who were living in the George Street building but luckily no one suffered injuries were reported.

The blaze quickly spread to the supermarket which is located opposite the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. However, fire officers were able to bring the blaze under control before it spread to the nearby SWMCOL Building.

A manager at the supermarket who rushed to the scene when he heard about the fire said he got emotional as he watched the place where he had worked for the past 17 years ago up in flames. He said 20 workers had been displaced by the fire.

Bristow said losses are still being estimated but the building was valued at $10 million.