Hundreds of residents came out of their homes on Thursday night, after a fire broke out at an unoccupied building that once housed a cinema in La Romaine.
With towering flames flickering, residents stood in shock along the Southern Main Road as they watched firefighters battle the flames.
The fire started shortly before 8 pm.
Residents were concerned that the fire would have spread to an adjacent mini-mart. The owners and customers had to evacuate.
A woman who did not want to be named said they removed the gas tanks from the store because they were scared that the flames would spread to the building.
Opposite the cinema building is the La Romaine police mobile unit, while a commercial building housing a dentist, doctor and a business selling environmentally friendly products are on the other side of the cinema.
No other property was damaged and no one was injured.
The cinema was shut down more than four decades ago but was a landmark in the community.
When reporters got to the scene around 11 am yesterday, police had already cordoned off the area. The cause of the blaze was not known up to last evening. Officers of the Mon Repos Fire Station and San Fernando police are investigating. —Sascha Wilson