At least five persons are now homeless after a fire last night destroyed a wooden two-storey apartment building at Cross Street, Georgetown.
According to a security guard at the Ashmin’s Trading compound on High Street, the fire started at about 8.30 pm and quickly destroyed the two-storey wooden building. The building was behind the compound. He said that he was not present when the fire started.
At the scene, this newspaper observed that the upper flat of the two-storey building had collapsed as a result of the blaze. Fire-fighters tackled the fire from above by climbing onto the fence of the building and from spots that were not ablaze. Neighbours and bystanders also attempted to tackle the fire from ground level. A shortage of water was also evident and persons assisted by means of a water brigade. A pressure washer was also set up to aid in containing the blaze. By 10:15 pm the firefighters had made several attempts at containing the fire, including the use of water from nearby trenches.
