According to Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Zebalon McLean, everything in the building was destroyed. However, there were no casualties. He did not comment on the cause of the fire as investigations are ongoing.

Meanwhile, Chief McLean said it took approximately three hours to extinguish the blaze.

He said the fire station was alerted to the fire at approximately 8:20 pm and the team arrived at the location shortly after.

Contributed image of a scene from last night’s fire on Virgin Gorda.

McLean said the firefighters started work on extinguishing the fire shortly after 9 pm but had to temporarily stand down for supplementary water supply from trucks at around 9:30 pm. The fire was contained around 10 pm with 75 percent of the blaze extinguished. It was completely extinguished shortly after midnight, the Fire Chief told our news centre.

McLean said the fire was extinguished by full-time fire officers from the Virgin Gorda Fire Station along with auxiliary fire officers. They received help from the Taddy Bay Airport officers, Virgin Islands Search and Rescue (VISAR) personnel, the Virgin Gorda police, and scores of Virgin Gorda residents on the scene.

Meanwhile, the CFO said fire officers received help with water trucks from Dwight and Ricardo Flax and one from the Public Works Department (PWD).