BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Fire and Rescue Services was summoned to the Constituency Office of the Hon. Marcella Liburd early this morning (Feb. 16) to extinguish a fire which the authorities indicated is “a clear act of arson”.
Fire Chief Everette O’Garro told SKNVibes that the department responded at about 4:23 a.m. to find thick smoke coming from a portion of the building located on Cayon Street.
He said the officers entered the building and within 15 minutes they had extinguished the blaze but the operation went on for a further hour and a half as the building needed to be properly ventilated.
O’Garro said evidence shows that someone had broken into the building and started the fire. He also explained that the strong scent of an accelerant was present in the building.
The investigations have been handed over to the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force.
SKNVibes made contact with Liburd who explained what items were destroyed and indicated that the incident has slowed her and her team down bit but it will not stop them.
“It has delayed us a little but it can’t stop us. We are fortified and you could see it was a deliberate act…Actually the ladder is still there that they used to climb up and they broke into a window through the bathroom and came in, and all of our agents’ bags which we had packed just to give them this morning to go were burned to the ground.”
She said the table on which the bags were placed and the carpet upon which the table sat were also destroyed.
While she indicated that her personal office inside the Constituency Office was broken into, it was untouched by fire but rummaged through and the presence of an accelerant was noted.
Contingency plans have been put in place, Liburd informed, and agents for Constituency Number Two were being dispatched while she spoke with this publication.
Today, the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis heads to the polls to elect the people it wishes to handle its affairs for the next five years.
