Fire of unknown origin destroyed a 2 storey building in Downtown Montego Bay, St. James earlier this afternoon (Mar 4).

The building has residential spaces on the upper floor and commercial on the ground floor.

It’s reported that one occupant of a room on the upper floor, allegedly left a hot plate cooker on, and this caused the fire which quickly engulfed the structure.

Units from the Barnett Street and Freeport fire stations responded and conducted cooling down operations.

The fire has left about 15 people homeless.