Millions of dollars in furniture and equipment were destroyed when the ND&S furniture store and factory, located at Lot 40 B and C Gap Road, La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara (WCD), went up in flames.
The remains of the building after the inferno was extinguished on Thursday evening
Guyana Times understands that the flames erupted at about 11:00h on Thursday evening in the factory and quickly razed the three-storey building which housed the furniture store, the factory, and a living quarter for the owner.
When this publication visited the scene, the proprietor, Parasram Mahadeo, was being comforted and supported by relatives and neighbours who had rendered assistance to help save items from the burning building.
Mahadeo stated that he was asleep but was awoken by his neighbour who saw smoke emanating from the factory.
“Soon as I open the door, there was a fire below the factory, so I rushed down here and asked him to call the fire service.”
The ND&S furniture store and factory, located at Lot 40 B and C Gap Road, La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara (WCD)
Mahadeo further stated that he managed to escape in the nick of time after realising that the building was engulfed.
“I then made a dash upstairs to get some documents, and when I come out there was spoke in front, so I had to use another entrance but that had smoke also, so I come at the front of the veranda and use a billboard to slide down,” He explained.
The distressed businessman stated that he is at a loss as to what may have caused the fire, noting that millions of dollars in investment has been lost.
“There is a lot of unfinished and finished products, there is a lot of materials, hardware and also a lot of equipment. Some of that equipment we cannot replace them; so, some of the furniture the guys working on is 80 per cent finished some are 10 per cent, so it is hard to calculate,” the man noted with tears in his eyes.
Mahadeo also pointed out that he is concerned about his 32 members of staff, who are now out of jobs. Nevertheless, he elucidated that he will be working to have the business back in operation as soon as possible.
Firefighters who responded managed to save only part of the building’s lower flat since the raging fire quickly demolished the factory and upper apartment of the three-storey building.
This is not the first time the building was gutted by fire. Last year February, the same building was reduced to debris after a fire of unknown origin had ripped through the two-storey concrete and wooden structure. (Shemar Alleyne)
