Massive warehouse fire destroys resort supplies, delays InterContinental opening in Grenada

Grenada: A massive fire that tore through the intercontinental mechanical, electric and plumbing warehouse at the Six Senses resort in La Sagesse, St. David on Saturday, July 4 has destroyed over thousands of dollars worth of equipment, appliances and other construction materials stored at the warehouse.

According to the official reports, no injuries have yet been reported as multiple fire units were immediately deployed to the scene following the thick smoke and flames that engulfed the building. The intense blaze was brought under control after hours of battling the major warehouse fire. Workers and onlookers were immediately urged to safety as the fire raged on, by the emergency crews.

As per the officials’ statements, the massive fire is expected to delay the opening of the nearby Intercontinental resort as the loss of critical supplies is likely to impact preparations for the resort's launch.

The resort's logistic manager reported that he was alerted to the fire and he tried to contain the flames with the assistance of other employees, before the firefighters arrived. However, the fire was so intense that it spread rapidly and ultimately became too large for them to control.

“Close to 11 o’ clock, few minutes left in 11, I received a call that there is a small fire, so we sent our ERT team. We have an ERT team, emergency response team which are trained for fire extinguishers and these all things,” the logistic manager stated.

“So those guys came and they called me and they said, you also come. So I came less than 2 or 3 minutes. We started the execution, extinguishing the fire. We use around 60 to 70 extinguishers. They are all still empty there.”

“So fire was not stopping with extinguishers, It was blazing more so as soon as I saw it's around 7-8ft tall then I stopped everybody and I told them nobody goes nearby. The human lives are more important than any material or anything. And in that time, we did call fire department” he added.

The firefighters reported at the scene and worked for several hours to bring the blaze under control. The blaze resulted in the extensive damage to the warehouse, however, the officials confirmed that no guests staying at the nearby Six Senses Resort were affected by the incident.

The resort’s logistic manager further reported that, “They did very good response. 15 minutes, one of the vehicle was here of fire department, and after that, every ten minutes, other vehicles were coming. So materials, most of the project intercontinental material was there. AV audio and video, PVC pipes, electrical cables, data cables,all the fittings, buttons, switches, sockets, all of them were in these stores. There were a lot like 15 container materials.”

Officials further noted that their immediate priority is completing the damage assessment that will help determine the next steps and the timeline for resuming preparation for the Intercontinental Resort opening.

“Since the impact on Intercontinental and the opening would be confirmed as soon as we see what are the materials got burned,” the manager noted.

“The Six Senses guests, they are not affected at all. for 15 minutes, when fire brigade was coming, we blocked the road and we informed them also. So after 15 minutes now guests are moving around, there is no traffic blockage to any of the hotel at all,” he added.

Further investigations are underway to determine the cause of the fire along with the ongoing assessments to figure out the full extent of the damage.