By Sue-Ann Wayow
FIRE officers spent almost the entire day on Friday extinguishing a fire at the Fernandes Compound in Laventille.
The fire also caused a major traffic jam along the Solomon Hochoy Highway and the Uriah Butler Highway on the northern-bound lanes for the entire day.
Initial reports stated that around 9 am, a fire was observed by staff members in a warehouse with stationery and files. By 5 pm, the walls on the northern side of the wall had collapsed.
Chief Fire Officer Arnold Bristow and Assistant Chief Fire Officer Marlon Smith led firefighters from the Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain headquarters, San Juan, Belmont and Woodbrook fire station.
In a media release on Friday evening, the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) stated that it deployed resources to assist the officers.
WASA stated, “Three water tankers are currently on the scene to aid with firefighting efforts, as well as personnel from the Authority’s Operations Division. WASA staff and equipment would continue to support the fire officers in their efforts to extinguish the blaze.”
Chairman of the San Juan/ Laventille Regional Corporation Anthony Roberts told AZPNews.com on Saturday that a fire was always something that citizens needed to be cautious about.
He said, “On behalf of the corporation, to the owners of the building we are very sorry for the loss in such an event and we hope that there was no injury to anyone.”
Roberts said the corporation stands ready to assist in any way if called upon to do so.
He said given the magnitude of the fire and being a commercial building, the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Services would have led the safety operations while the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service would have been assisting with the flow of traffic.
