City fire raises old issues

MEMORIES OF the Campus Trendz fire came rushing back last night when a blaze broke out in a two-storey building on Tudor Street, The City.
Shelly Caesar said she was moving into the store for the November 1 opening. 
“It was empty for some time. I had just rented it. The Light and Power had turned on the electricity around 3 p.m. My brother, boyfriend, and about four other people were helping me move in the stuff from the old store to this one.”
She said her brother Kelvin Rowe, who was in the store helping, alerted her to the fire.
“It was upstairs. We didn’t know. We were just packing out merchandise. He came back downstairs shouting ‘fire’.”
Rowe said he heard a loud sound like running water, and thinking a pipe had burst, went to check.
“I heard the sound getting louder. I didn’t see the water running down the steps and then I saw the light and smelled the smoke.”
He said he alerted the three others who were on the bottom floor and they ran out unharmed, grabbing the majority of the merchandise.
Acting deputy chief fire officer Lloyd Phillips said four fire tenders and 12 fire men under his command responded to the fire by 11:07 p.m.
By 12:35 this morning, the fire seemed to be under control and the billowing, black, smelly smoke had died down.
A police man on the scene said the forensics team will examine the building to determine the cause of the fire.
Several store owners who had businesses in the area came out to assess the damage.
Some called again for building inspections, and lamented the one-door exit and entrance on many of the properties for which they paid rents almost amounting to $15 000 a month in some cases.
The Campus Trendz fire occurred when two robbers firebombed the Tudor Street store three years ago. It claimed the lives of Tiffany Harding, Kellisha Olliviere, Shanna Griffith, Pearl Cornelius, Kelly-Ann Welch and Nikita Belgrave. (NS)