Firefighters in St. James
were forced to call in back up units from neighbouring Trelawny and Hanover to
battle two fires Thursday morning.
One fire partially destroyed the popular Holiday Village and another gutted sections of a wholesale store.
Nine shops in the Holiday Village were affected by the blaze while several others were waterlogged as firefighters battled the massive blaze.
RJR News was told that the Fire Department was called shortly after 3 o'clock Thursday morning after smoke was seen coming from a section of the large shopping village across from the Holiday Inn Resort.
Acting Superintendent Dolphin Doeman, of for the St James Fire Department, told RJR News that his team responded promptly.
"When we received the call to this fire, 3.08 in the morning, we responded immediately with five units, two from the Montego Bay Fire Station, two from the Ironshore Fire Station and one from Falmouth," he said.
It took his team over six hours to fight the blaze.
Some shop owners managed to salvage a few items.
Lachu Ramchandani, Owner of "The Village", says the clients have suffered a major loss.
"The building is mine but I rented it to a gentleman from Kumar Enterprise and the agreement is that they're to insure it but the (leaser) is off the island, so I have to wait until he returns to know If this was done. I was told that the contents of the building are insured but I'm not sure if the building was insured.
"It was insured and he was to take over the insurance years ago but I'm not sure, so I have to wait until he returns to get a confirmation," Mr. Ramchandani said.
Wholesale partially gutted
And while firefighters fought the blaze at the Holiday Village, two of the units had to be dispatched to a wholesale store in the vicinity of the Charles Gordon Market to fight a fire there.
Two other units from Lucea and Freeport also responded.
Acting Superintendent Doeman said the fire was confined to a storeroom upstairs the wholesale and they managed to prevent the building from being gutted.
The cause of both fires has not yet been ascertained.
Firefighters in St James have had their hands full over the past two months responding to household, commercial and bush fires.
Just two Saturdays ago, a large section of the Barnett Street Police Station was gutted.
A pharmacy at the Holiday Village was also destroyed last week in a fire believed to be the work of arsonists.
One fire partially destroyed the popular Holiday Village and another gutted sections of a wholesale store.
Nine shops in the Holiday Village were affected by the blaze while several others were waterlogged as firefighters battled the massive blaze.
RJR News was told that the Fire Department was called shortly after 3 o'clock Thursday morning after smoke was seen coming from a section of the large shopping village across from the Holiday Inn Resort.
Acting Superintendent Dolphin Doeman, of for the St James Fire Department, told RJR News that his team responded promptly.
"When we received the call to this fire, 3.08 in the morning, we responded immediately with five units, two from the Montego Bay Fire Station, two from the Ironshore Fire Station and one from Falmouth," he said.
It took his team over six hours to fight the blaze.
Some shop owners managed to salvage a few items.
Lachu Ramchandani, Owner of "The Village", says the clients have suffered a major loss.
"The building is mine but I rented it to a gentleman from Kumar Enterprise and the agreement is that they're to insure it but the (leaser) is off the island, so I have to wait until he returns to know If this was done. I was told that the contents of the building are insured but I'm not sure if the building was insured.
"It was insured and he was to take over the insurance years ago but I'm not sure, so I have to wait until he returns to get a confirmation," Mr. Ramchandani said.
Wholesale partially gutted
And while firefighters fought the blaze at the Holiday Village, two of the units had to be dispatched to a wholesale store in the vicinity of the Charles Gordon Market to fight a fire there.
Two other units from Lucea and Freeport also responded.
Acting Superintendent Doeman said the fire was confined to a storeroom upstairs the wholesale and they managed to prevent the building from being gutted.
The cause of both fires has not yet been ascertained.
Firefighters in St James have had their hands full over the past two months responding to household, commercial and bush fires.
Just two Saturdays ago, a large section of the Barnett Street Police Station was gutted.
A pharmacy at the Holiday Village was also destroyed last week in a fire believed to be the work of arsonists.
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