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Fire at J Wray & Nephew Ltd: |
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A fire has seriously damaged two rum ageing warehouses and a cooperage owned by J Wray & Nephew Ltd, owner of Appleton Estate rum in Jamaica. Seven fire units from the York Park and Trench Town Fire Stations volunteers took several hours to contain the fire, which broke out at 17:30 local time on 1 December at the J Wray & Nephew cooperage on Spanish Town Road in Kingston, Jamaica. The fire was still in progress four hours later.
Scenes from the fire at Wray and Nephew Jamaica Limited are taken by Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
The Ministry of Transport and Works opened up the Portmore Toll Road to toll-free traffic up to midnight, to reduce congestion in the Spanish Town Road area of Kingston created by this major fire. "All the emergency services are here, including the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM). The Fire Brigade has brought the fire under control. The operation is definitely not affected, but we will keep the tolls open until about midnight." Mr. Vaz told JIS News shortly after 9 p.m. ODPEM urged motorists travelling out of Kingston to Portmore and other rural areas via the Mandela Highway to continue use the Toll Road to Spanish Town instead, as Spanish Town Road, between Three Miles and Six Miles, remained inaccessible. The police had earlier asked residents of surrounding communities, such as Headley Avenue, White Wing and Ashoka Road to take precaution, in case the fire spread. Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Minister responsible for Information, the Hon. Daryl Vaz, were among a number of Government ministers who rushed to the scene. There has been serious damage to the cooperage and to two small ageing warehouses, but, the rum producer said supplies will not be disrupted since the fire was restricted to a warehouse used to store empty barrels. The large fire that was first feared to have been fuelled by millions of dollars worth of rum, including some that have been ageing in barrels for more than 30 years. If the fire had hit the Rums, it would not only affect the company but the country as well, according to the Industry Minister Karl Samuda. "The effect of the fire will not in any way affect the company's finished goods stock or production facilities, which are isolated from its bulk ageing facilities and as such will not cause any interruption in the supply of J. Wray & Nephew products in either the short or long-term," said David McConnell, managing director of J Wray & Nephew's global marketing division. The group has ageing facilities spread across Jamaica in order to reduce risk to supplies. Financial cost of the fire remains unknown. "J Wray & Nephew is currently reviewing the extent of the damage to the property, which is insured," said the firm. No human injuries have been reported. The University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) have raised another concern regarding the jobs of the 200 production workers they currently represent, and whether the fire will cause any unemployment amongst them at Wray and Nephew. The exact cause of the fire and whether it will have any impact on the jobs of the workers and the future production at Wray and Nephew in the coming year remains to be seen. Incidentally on the very night of the fire Wray and Nephew had their media appreciation party scheduled to be held at the Constant Spring Golf Club.
Here you see 3 live films of Wray and Nephew shortly after the fire had started. People who where there say it was far more frightening than it looked.
Special thanks goes to Count Silvio of Refined Vices.
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