The ND&S Furniture Store and its factory, located at La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara (ECD), were destroyed on Thursday evening in what authorities are calling a “suspicious” fire, which has left millions of dollars in losses and more than two dozen employees jobless.
The fire, which is the second to have occurred in the past ten years at the site, started around 11.02pm and quickly ripped through two connecting buildings, at Lot 40 B&C, Gap Road, La Jalousie.
The business is owned by Parsram Mahadeo, who also lived in the upper flat of the three-storey building which also housed the business’ show room and main office. The factory was situated in a separate building.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle yesterday told Stabroek News that after the Guyana Fire Service was alerted, firefighters were dispatched to the scene and managed to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to nearby buildings.
According to Gentle, investigators are treating the fire as “very suspicious.” “We treating this as very suspicious. It was no an accidental fire,” he said.
The building was insured.
A neighbour, Indra Singh, told this newspaper that it was a “watchman” from her yard that first noticed the fire and alerted her son. She said her son then called out to her. “He seh look Uncle Sham place on fire. Call the fire team and he call fah Uncle Sham [Mahadeo] because Uncle Sham was sleeping,” Singh said.
She said as the news of the fire spread, neighbours rush to render assistance.
“My son, everybody run over. Neighbours, the village, all, everybody communicate and try to get him [Mahadeo] out,” she added.
When Stabroek News arrived at the scene yesterday, the visibly distressed Mahadeo was providing investigators with a statement. A number of other persons, including Mahadeo’s children and some of his employees, were also present. They were seen inspecting the debris in disbelief.
Natasha Mahadeo, Parsram’s daughter, told this newspaper that she was grateful for the neighbours’ assistance in rescuing her father. “Had that young man not see and come over, he would not have been here,” she said.
She noted that it was too early to ascertain their losses but said that they are significant because the entire building was gutted. “So all our unfinished work as well as raw material—because we did everything here from the manufacturing to the covering and finishing and everything—so all machines, all material that we had were destroyed,” Natasha said.
According to Natasha, the family is clueless as to what might have caused the fire. “We have no idea what could have caused it. They are currently investigating and they will do what they have to do,” she added.
The building was reconstructed following a fire ten years ago. In February, 2010, a fire of unknown origin had flattened the business leaving millions of dollars in losses also.
