Fire guts Henry Street drag mall again

Six months after a fire gutted four businesses at a drag mall on lower Henry Street, Port of Spain, vendors are again attempting to salvage their goods from another fire which destroyed most of the mall this morning.

Newsday understands shortly before 6 am, vendors reported smelling smoke coming from Carla's Cafeteria – one of the businesses at the mall. They called the fire service which responded from the Wrightson Road station.

Before fire officials arrived, several vendors attempted to save their goods as the fire spread to other stalls, engulfing part of lower Henry and Frederick Streets in a heavy cloud of smoke.

Police re-routed traffic onto Independence Square and Henry Street remains closed off.

While fire officers have yet to confirm the source of the blaze, one vendor believes it might have been caused by a gas stove that was left on overnight.

As police tried to keep the public behind caution tape, one vendor ventured too close to the fire and was confronted by the police. An argument ensued between the police and the vendor and he was arrested, along with two other vendors who also attempted to get closer to the scene.