FIRE, believed to have been started by an electrical short circuit, destroyed one of St Ann's landmarks in the wee hours of yesterday morning, leaving damage estimated at several million dollars.

A and S Charley and Son Limited (Charley's Musgrave House) - a family-owned business on Main Street that has been in operation since 1905 and employed 25 persons - was completely gutted after fire, which lasted over 10 hours, raced through the entire building, destroying everything in its path.

Firemen pick through the rubble from A and S Charley and Son Limited in St Ann yesterday. Inset: a distraught Anthony Charley, one of the principals of the business, says loss is estimated in the millions. (Photo: Carl Gilchrist)

The fire, which disrupted the normal flow of activities in Brown's Town, attracted scores of onlookers, many of whom were there from before dawn when news of the fire began to spread. Several persons stared in disbelief at the burnt-out remains of one of the town's most popular establishments, while some showed their concern for the firefighters, shouting safety instructions to them when it seemed they might be endangering themselves.

At one stage when it appeared the fire was completely put out and cooling down operations had begun, a storeroom to which there was no access and which contained flammable material, suddenly erupted in flames, sending the frantic firemen into another round of fighting.

According to Assistant Superintendent Lloyd Hines of the St Ann Fire Department, the Brown's Town fire station received a call at around 1:40 Monday morning.

The station later requested backup which they got from St Ann's Bay and St Ann Jamaica Bauxite Limited in Discovery Bay, as well as from two private residents, as it took six units to fight the blaze.

The firefighters were, however, hampered by out-of-service fire hydrants, one of which is located a mere five feet from the entrance to the store, Hines explained. Another hydrant, about one hundred feet away, was also of no use - forcing the fire units to travel nearly two miles to Minard to refill.

"When we reached there was little we could do to save this building, as there were some sections that were inaccessible, so we had to concentrate on saving the surrounding buildings," Hines told the Observer.

But Anthony Charley, one of the principals of the business, could not contain his anger as he spoke about the problems encountered by the firefighters.

"The powers that be have failed us miserably! They have failed! Everything is just a show, it's just a façade. How can a heavily populated area like Brown's Town have one dilapidated fire truck? The firemen have no flashlights - when they reached here around 2:00 am, they couldn't see inside," said Charley, who disclosed that the building was insured.

Charley said the damage to the store, which sold haberdashery, furniture, hardware, electrical appliances among other things, was worth "millions".

Recounting what took place, Charley said when he arrived at the store there was a "small fire" near the back of the building, on the outside. While the firemen were concentrating on trying to prevent that fire from spreading, fire from a utility pole near the front of the store ran along the electrical wires, spreading to other sections of the building.

When the firemen turned their attention to this new challenge they were confronted with a lack of water. While the trucks journeyed to Minard to refill, the fire quickly engulfed the building. Nothing was saved.

The electrical problem, which started on the utility pole, also damaged appliances in several houses in close proximity to the burnt-out store. One businessman along Main Street showed the Observer a refrigerator in the lunch room of his establishment, which he said was burnt black by the electrical problem.