Arson is suspected in a fire at a scrapyard in Princes Town yesterday, resulting in thousands of dollars in losses.
The fire began shortly before 7 am at Neck’s yard at the corner of Glenroy Settlement and M1 Tasker Road in Princes Town.
Several scrapped vehicles and doors in the yard were gutted in the blaze.
One worker, Sandesh Mohammed, who lives in a house on the compound with two of his sons, ages 24 and 21, told reporters he left around 6.20 am to go to St Mary’s Village to pick up his daughter to take her to school. While there, he received a call about the fire. He was thankful that fire officers responded quickly.
“If the fire truck did not reach in time, check this lil premises (the house) here would ah burn down.”
He said his older son was making tea when the fire started and ran to safety.
Mohammed said he and a neighbour used water hoses to try to extinguish the flames while they waited for the fire service’s arrival.
He estimated the losses to be close to $200,000. He added one of the vehicles was a Lexus, which was in use.
Mohammed claimed the fire was deliberately set and added that he knew who the suspect was—someone from the village.
“The other day he almost burned down there. He light a wood on fire, I had to throw it in a drain. Look what he come to do now. If the fire truck did not come in time, the whole place could ah burn down. Who is responsible for it?”
The father of ten, who has been working at the scrapyard for two years, claimed there had been several incidents involving the suspect, whom he described as a mentally disturbed man.
He said reports against him were filed at the Princes Town Police Station, but officers there could not confirm this information.
The incident occurred close to where 20-year-old Elijah Noel, who was mentally challenged, was shot and killed by a police officer after he damaged a woman’s vehicle.
