Fire destroys Ammar’s downtown store

A mid-morning fire yesterday Sunday ripped through the Ammar's clothing store on King Street in downtown Kingston, destroying the 65-year-old business and triggering an emergency response that lasted for hours.

The blaze broke out while the shops along the busy strip were closed, sending thick plumes of black smoke into neighbouring buildings as firefighters from the Jamaica Fire Brigade battled to contain the flames.

For more than two hours, crews worked to prevent the fire from spreading further along the densely packed commercial corridor.

Ammar's suffered extensive damage.

"This is our original store; it is 65 years old," said Michael Ammar Jr. "This is our first location. It is a major loss ... Looking at the extent of the smoke, I don't think anything can be saved."

Next door, however, swift action by emergency responders and staff at Kingston Bookshop helped avert a wider disaster. Workers moved quickly to remove stock from shelves along shared walls, while firefighters ventilated the bookstore to limit smoke damage.

Despite the devastating loss at the clothing store, Ammar Jr said employees would not be sent home.

"My workers will still be coming to work," he told THE STAR. "They will just be working from a different location."

Up to press time, the Jamaica Fire Brigade had not confirmed the cause of the fire. However, members of the Kingston Parish Church, who were attending service nearby at the time, reported noticing unusual activity moments before the blaze erupted.

"We were at service and saw the lights flicker, and shortly after that a fire started from the electrical wires," one person said.

At Kingston Bookshop, staff and management were already inside the building when the fire broke out and immediately began working alongside firefighters to assess the threat and protect inventory.

"So we opened up to ensure that everything was fine, and some of the persons from the fire department came in and started checking our walls to ensure that they were cool," said Shauna Fuller Clarke, director of strategy and innovation at Kingston Bookshop.

As a precaution, firefighters later instructed staff to clear books from shelves that shared a wall with Ammar's.

Inside the bookstore, shelves that are usually packed with titles were left bare, while the smell of smoke hung in the air.

"So far, we are okay and it is just the smoke that is in the store," Clarke said. "We can't open at 9 a.m. as planned for tomorrow [today] because we had to take a lot of stock off the shelf. The first part of the morning will be spent reorganising the store and, hopefully, by midday, we will be able to open."