Firefighters tackle late-night blaze at old Massy building in Pierhead

Firefighters battled a fierce blaze that tore through the old Massy building at the Pierhead in Bridgetown late on Thursday night, rescuing two people and working into Friday morning to prevent the structure from collapsing.  

Old Massy Building gutted by fire. (Photo Credit: Shamar Blunt

Station Officer Roger Bourne said the fire reported at 11.41 pm Thursday was brought under control in the early hours, but crews continued working to fully extinguish hotspots and secure the area amid fears of structural collapse of the limestone building.  

Bourne said: “The initial response was from the Bridgetown Port Station and the Bridgetown Fire Station, assisted by Worthing Fire Station and complemented with Tanker One. There were 16 fire officers on the fire scene.”

He added: “The fire is now under control, and has been since eight minutes after four. We are working with the hotspots in the area to make sure it’s completely extinguished, but we are also cordoned off the area because it’s an old soft stone building and we want to protect the public from imminent collapse of the building because it has experienced tremendous heat.”  

No injuries were reported, but two people had to be rescued from the building which formerly housed the original Manning, Wilkinson and Challenor dry goods and hardware store before it became a branch of Massy Stores. 

“One… walked off on his own, and the other person, the older gentleman, 63 years of age, was taken to the hospital via ambulance,” Bourne said.  

Later in the day, the developers behind the under-construction Pierhead Project in the City said that while the fire was in close proximity to the construction site, no damage to the project was sustained.  

The statement said: “We are aware of the fire that occurred last night in the building next door to the Pierhead Project site. We can confirm that the incident did not take place at the Pierhead Project site, and our site has not been affected. Neither our site nor our property have sustained any damage, and the fire is under control.  

“We understand that two people were affected by the fire and hospitalised, and we wish them a speedy recovery. We are grateful to the emergency services for their swift response.”  

(SB)