Fire ravages Double ‘R’ Hardware Store at Rosignol

Sep 24, 2013 News

A fire of still unknown origin on Sunday destroyed the Double ‘R’ Hardware Store at Rosignol Public Road, West Bank Berbice, leaving the owners with millions of dollars in losses. The fire which started around 16: 20 hrs quickly engulfed the two-storey building.
The fire started in the bottom flat of the building and quickly spread to the top flat which was used as storage bond and partial living quarters, according to residents.

Firemen working to save what is left of the building

Owner of the business Ramdial ‘Double R’ Ramotar of Bath Settlement where he operates his main branch spoke briefly to this newspaper via telephone. He stated that he was at home when he got the call that his Rosignol store was on fire. He cannot say much. He estimates his losses as over $50M.
That branch was established about five years ago following demands from the residents in that area.
When Kaieteur News visited the scene on Monday evening, workers were in the process of salvaging whatever they could from the destroyed building.
Manager of the store, Jainarine Rakesh Etwaroo, was among those in the process of clearing the building. Two trucks were being loaded with materials to be taken to the main branch. However, Kaieteur News understands that the business place like all the other branches would open half day on Sunday and that was the case.
A beer garden next door was saved, but suffered slight damage as fire fighters had to climb to the top of his building to properly fight the fire. The nearby Shariff Service Station was for some time under threat.
Owner of the gas station, Mohamed “NanKoo” Shariff was thankful that no damage was done to his gas station. The man told Kaieteur News by telephone that he was at home when he received a number of calls about the fire and that his gas station was under threat.
He immediately hurried to the scene. Upon arrival he saw the raging fire and the large crowd and became worried. However, upon getting closer his fears were quickly dispelled as he noticed the fire fighters had contained the fire to the store.
Residents were high in praise for the fire fighters, but blasted the government for not having working fire hydrants in place. One resident nearby who was observing the salvage work being done by the workers and residents,
recounted to Kaieteur News that a fire tender (Land Rover) from the nearby Blairmont Sugar Estate arrived on the scene within 20 minutes and managed to contain the blaze. Two other fire tenders arrived, one from Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice, a few miles away while another raced to the scene from New Amsterdam over the Berbice Bridge on the eastern side.
The residents said that water was a problem. They said that if there was adequate water, less damage would have been done. The little water that was in a nearby trench was quickly used up.
There are no working fire hydrants in the well-populated area which has a number of businesses located in the area. The few fire hydrants are dysfunctional. They were damaged by some uninterested contractors who did road and other works in the area.
Residents had to open a nearby sluice and allow the river water to flow in so as to allow the firemen to access water.
The business stocked a large quantity of almost every type of material including hardware items– cement, paint, steel rods, fridges, freezers gas stoves and a host of other building materials, household appliances and even eatables.
During the fire loud explosions were heard apparently from paint cans, gas bottles and other combustible items.
Investigations are continuing.