KINGSTON, Jamaica — Firefighters are on location at the Pearnel Charles Arcade in downtown Kingston, where a fire reportedly broke out at a section of the facility this afternoon.

Barrington Marshall, acting superintendent at the York Park Fire Station, told Observer Online that numerous stalls within the facility have been damaged. An estimated cost of the damage has not yet been determined.

“At present, we have received a call of building and fire Pearnel to Charles Arcade. We responded with two units. When we got here, we realised that the magnitude of the fire requires a number of units. So, additional units were brought in, and we have attacked the fire. We have not yet found the seat of the fire. So firefighting operation still continues as we speak. We have not yet determined an estimate at this time. Just numerous stars within the building. And the fire is contained, and we have not yet found the seat of the fire. So we are still fighting the fire at this present time.

Robert Hill, chief executive officer at the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC), who was also on location, said an assessment will be conducted following the investigation of the firefighters.

“Unfortunately, the Pearl Charles Arcade, again, has been impacted by a fire months after one occurred later, late, sorry, late October So, unfortunately, another fire occurred here at the Pearl Charles Arcade just months after one occurred here in late 2024. This is confined to another section of the arcade where some stores were on fire. I believe that about four units from the fire brigade have attended with several members of the fire brigade who have put the fire under control, and they’re now doing cooling down operations as well as assessing initial damage. We can see amongst and around us that there are several stallholders, vendors that are here clearing out their areas,” Hill said.

“We are going to await the outcome of the fire investigation, the initial outcome. We’re going to have a meeting led by his worship, the mayor, the heads of the commercial services unit, along with my administrative team. With the members of the arcade, they already have a structure in place with a president and an executive and so on. So we’ll be meeting with them to conduct a walkthrough and an assessment. Again, I’d like to reiterate that our insurance coverage does not cover contents, but rather the structure and the building. So those things will have to be discussed as well,” he continued.

A section of the Pearnel Charles Arcade was engulfed in flames last November of last year destroying several stalls and impacting the livelihoods of vendors.