Firefighters managed to contain a mysterious fire which gutted the building of West Half Fashion-Fabric World, located at Regent and Light streets, late yesterday afternoon.

Businessmen who operate nearby assisted firefighters to gain entry to the building.

Losses are believed to be in the millions. The fire was first noticed by business operators along Regent Road, Bourda who immediately informed the fire department.

Reports are that the fire started shortly after 5 pm, minutes after employees had closed the business place for the day.
An employee of West Half, who requested anonymity, said that they’d closed at 5 pm yesterday. Some ten to fifteen minutes later, the employee said, they received a message that the building was on fire.

“I don’t understand how this happened,” the employee stated. “We checked before we locked and everything was in place…I am shocked.”
R. Reece, the manager of the Lot 140 Regent Road, Bourda business, declined to comment when approached by Stabroek News. This newspaper understands that the business owner, Rashad Baksh, is overseas.

Several businessmen rushed to assist firemen in their fight to contain the blaze of unknown origins. Employees of The Hardware Depot, located next to the burning building, sustained minor “smoke damage”, owner Bernie Singh reported.

Singh told this newspaper that he was among the first persons who noticed the fire. However, the businessman stressed that it could not have been an electrical fire since the area had experienced a power outage several hours before.

“About two-and-a-half to three hours before the fire there was a power outage and up to the time of the fire there was still no electricity,” Singh explained. “The fire was not caused by the GPL [Guyana Power and Light Incorporated] connection,” the businessman said.

Police were forced to barricade the area surrounding the burning building to keep curious citizens away from possible danger.

As firefighters worked in haste a large crowd gathered at the scene. This forced police to barricade the area to keep citizens away from possible danger.

After an approximate 40 minutes of hard work the fire was doused.
West Half was completely gutted. Stabroek News learnt that the upper flat of the building was used for storage. The business wholesaled and retailed mainly fabric, an employee said, and millions worth were lost to the fire.

Senior fire ranks present at the scene last evening refused to comment. Up to late last evening police had not issued a release. The origin of the fire remains unknown.