Aerial view of the Frigodom fire in the Galisbay Port on Wednesday morning, taken by a drone. Photo courtesy Jeremy Mannella.
MARIGOT–Fire fighters from both the Dutch and French sides battled to extinguish a massive fire that started in the Frigodom warehouse in the Galisbay Port early Wednesday morning. Clouds of black smoke were seen billowing high into the sky above Marigot.
Lt. Colonel Sébastien Manzoni outside the port area said the fire started around 6:00am Wednesday. A total evacuation of the port and residents from nearby houses overlooking the port was subsequently carried out. Police and Gendarmes prevented any access to the port from the Agrement roundabout.
“It’s far too dangerous,” Manzoni said, adding that the priority was to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to other buildings.
The fire and smoke coming from the warehouse were noticeably less approaching midday as firefighters began to take control of the blaze.
Frigodom owner/managing director Tai Ghzalale said it was too early to comment on the fire until it had been completely extinguished and an assessment of the damage had been made for insurers. He did say that an electrical fault was the most likely cause of the fire. However, that will still have to be confirmed by investigators.
Such was the concern raised by the possibility of the fire spreading that Préfète Sylvie Feucher and President Daniel Gibbs were both on site to monitor the situation. However, no injuries were reported and no risk of explosions, Feucher said.
The French-side Fire Brigade deployed two trucks, one pump, ladder and 17 firemen while the Dutch-side Fire Department contributed one truck and a team of seven firemen.
The vast warehouse contained fresh and frozen products for many restaurants and businesses on the island. All of it was destroyed. President Gibbs said the plan now is to arrange with the Port Director to have refrigerated containers available to stock merchandise. The Collectivité stated there should be no concern about food availability, as most of the big supermarkets were not dependent on Frigodom for storage.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/85040-frigodom-cold-storage-warehouse-in-galisbay-port-destroyed-by-fire
View comments
Hide comments