ST MARY, Jamaica —More than 40 vendors have been affected by an early-morning fire at the Highgate Market in St Mary, with many saying they have lost everything.

Firefighters at the scene told OBSERVER ONLINE that the blaze began about 4:15 am on Saturday.

Up to 7:30 am they were still trying to completely extinguish smaller fires at the scene.

Member of Parliament for St Mary Central, Dr Morais Guy, said the fire resulted in a “total destruction of the Highgate Market”.

He added that the incident will leave a major economic impact on the parish.

“I am happy that no lives were lost, but a significant loss in terms of economic activity has occurred. A lot of vendors have lost their goods because this was their Friday going into Saturday when there is the bulk of traffic in the market,” he said.

Indicating that more could have been salvaged from the blaze, Guy used the opportunity to advocate for a fire station to be established in Highgate as he revealed fire trucks had to source water elsewhere during their battle with the early morning fire.

More to come

– Davia Ellis