Fire guts Kissoon furniture bond
Stabroek News
March 1, 2003
A fire of unknown origin yesterday morning completely destroyed the sealing bond of the Kissoon Furniture Complex located at Industrial site Ruimveldt.
It is the third time in recent years a major fire has hit the Kissoon Group of Companies and has resulted in substantial losses.
Up to late yesterday afternoon, officers from the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) were trying to determine the origin of the fire.
Bennet Persaud, maintenance manager at the Furniture Complex told this newspaper that workers had been going about their duties as usual when someone raised an alarm about the fire. Persaud said that because of the size of the factory no one was certain at first as to where the fire was.
However, upon checking it was discovered that the fire was in the sealing bond. Stabroek News understands that a few workers were in the bond at the time, but no one knew where and how the fire had started.
Persaud said thick smoke accompanied the blaze and this severely affected some staff members who were trying to douse the flames. The GFS was summoned and responded within minutes but the fire had already gutted the building.
At the time of the fire there was a power outage in the area but the factory was receiving power from a generator. A large quantity of beds, chairs, wardrobes and other pieces of furniture were destroyed in the flames.
Additionally, a Genset generator, an electrical lathe machine and a control panel were also destroyed.
At the bond, furniture is sprayed and prepared for sale. No one from the top management of the complex was available for a comment but losses are believed to be in the millions. Some 130 persons are employed at the furniture complex, but only about 15 of them are attached to the sealing bond.
On May 6, 2000 a fire on Main Street razed the Park Hotel owned by the Kissoon group. On April 9, 2001 a fire reportedly set by an arsonist ripped through Regent Street. The blaze began at the Camp Street premises of Kissoon Furniture City.
