Fire At BICO Headquarters: Lessons To Learn

BICO's factory in Fontbelle, Bridgetown, suffered a major fire, which started last night and lasted more than two hours (see Nation report). The factory makes ice-cream.

Chief executive officer, Edwin Thirlwell, said as far as he knew it was the first fire to hit the company since its opening on Bay Street in 1901.

At least nine fire tenders from Bridgetown and other areas battled the blaze, finding the billowing smoke and the absence of hydrants on the property among the challenges. Reports indicate help was also provided by C.O. Williams.

BICO's public relations company, Redd Advertising, stated that employees of the company have been asked to gather in the car park of Cricket Legends of Barbados, at Herbert House, Fontabelle, at 8 a.m. tomorrow for an update on the company's next steps.

The fire will mean immediate loss of work for the employees and we will have to see when and if production can be resumed. The economy does not need another blow to jobs. If jobs are lost for good then it will be hard to lick this recession.

This is another major fire in recent weeks where the absence of fire prevention apparatus was noticeable. Is that the fault of management or of government industrial overseers? Once again, a horse to be chased after it has bolted from the stable. Must it take a crisis to bring common sense actions?
*********************************************************************
Last week, historical books and papers--many irreplaceable--valued at B$ 2 million were lost in a fire at the Israel Lovell Foundation. Reports indicate that the material was both uninsured and unscanned (see Barbados Free Press report).

Hal Austin, a Barbadian who is the Senior Editor of the Financial Times Group in London, negotiated with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). They were moving to an electronic system, and offered these books to Barbados through the Israel Lovell Foundation. The material included Caribbean literature, research and documentaries on leaders from the US Britain, Europe and Africa

The books were being housed in a block at the nearby St. Giles Nursery School, at My Lords Hill St. Michael (see CBC report). According to reports the entire block was ravaged.

Sources at the Foundation said they had been planning to buy containers to set up a public library. Too little and far too late for these historical assets.