By TRUDY SIMPSON, Freelance WriterTWENTY-EIGHT YEARS of history and heritage went up in flames yesterday when fire destroyed the building housing the Sistren Theatre Collective.
The fire, which began reportedly after 10:30 a.m. in the costume room to the back of the building, left only a shell of the vibrant production house, located at 20 Kensington Crescent, Kingston 5.
Investigations as to the cause of the fire and extent of the damage are still being ascertained by fire-fighters, said Assistant Superintendent. John Morais from the York Park Fire station yesterday.
Sistren Theatre Collective works with marginalised, vulnerable and other groups in inner-city communities as well as conducting seminars on issues such as empowerment, gender, development and HIV/AIDS. The group is also known for work titled 'Lion Heart Gyal'.
No one was killed or physically injured during the blaze, which was contained around 1:30 p.m. by two units from the York Park Fire Station and one from Half-Way-Tree Fire Station.
But the fire wreaked heavy emotional damage on members of the collective and the building's caretaker, 71-year-old Winston Burke, who watched helplessly as fire consumed items, including clothes, computers, other electrical equipment and the collective's archives.
"Everything bun up. Mi passport. Mi medicine dem bun up and mi have diabetes and hypertension. Every Christ t'ing bun up," Mr. Burke lamented.
There were tears in collective member Lillian Foster-Marshall's eyes and worry and grief on coordinator at Sistren Theatre Collective, Lana Finikin's, face. It was not clear whether the building, which housed Sistren since 1986, was insured. Ms. Finikin said that was the last item on her mind now.
"The valuables and archives weh inside that place, no insurance can replace that. For 28 years. All that history, down the drain. That's all I am thinking of right now," she said.
Mrs Foster-Marshall, a 28-year veteran collective member, added, "I have been here from the beginning. A building can be replaced but the archives. A rich history of our work cannot be replaced."
The ills besetting the Fire Service also reared its head again as persons watching the action complained that the fire department took between one and a half and two hours to respond. Several told THE STAR that when the units arrived, there were problems with the hose on one unit, which had three holes and eventually caught fire. There was also no fire hydrant nearby, they complained.
Assistant Superintendent Morais disagreed with reports of the fire service's late arrival and defective equipment, adding that the Jamaica Fire Brigade responded in a timely manner and that their equipment was not defective.
