No working fire unit leaves market to burn - truck destroyed

Angelo Laurence, Gleaner Writer

Manchester firefighters were left impotent Saturday night as a blaze of unknown origin engulfed a section of the Christiana Market while vendors were preparing to leave for their homes.

The fire, which began about 8:30 p.m., was confined to the section of the market facing Wildman Street that was added to the main building by the Manchester Parish Council recently. Fifteen shops were reduced to ashes, causing possibly millions of dollars in losses to vendors who were unable to secure their goods.

One vendor, Audley Simpson, told The Gleaner he had just counted up the days sales and restocked his shop when he noticed flames coming from the roof. He said he tried to save some of his merchandise but the fire moved quickly and engulfed the entire market in a matter of minutes.

The Christiana Fire Brigade, which is less than three blocks away, was unable to render any assistance as there has been no working fire unit at the station for the last month.

The matter was further compounded by the recent disabling of a fire truck stationed at the Mandeville Fire Brigade by irate citizens of Job Lane in the town when it turned up to put out a house fire last week. The residents, who accused the firemen of responding slowly to the fire, threw stones and other missiles which shattered the windscreen of the truck. One woman was arrested in that incident.

Firemen at the Mandeville Fire Station deemed the truck unsafe to operate and are refusing to use it to respond to emergencies.

A fire truck borrowed from Clarendon Saturday night was used to eventually douse the market fire.

Deputy Superintendent Emrick Needham, of the Mandevile Fire Station, said yesterday his department had not yet determined the cause of the fire or made an monetary estimate of the losses.