00:00The fire broke out around midnight along Piccadilly Street between Duke and Prince Street, Port of Spain.
00:07A small appliance repair shop reportedly operated from one of the affected structures.
00:12The estimated property damage is just under $500,000.
00:17Minister in the Ministry of Housing, Philip Alexander, says he received numerous calls related to the fire.
00:24Yes, I was in touch with residents of the community and there were children who were playing this fireworks game
00:34called Roman Candle.
00:36And the residents were complaining.
00:38One resident said it hit her window, another one hit her air-conditioned unit.
00:42And it ended up starting a fire where the TV repairman occupies.
00:51And, well, it spread out the control from there.
00:53When the investigation by the authorities is complete, I think that they will find that it was indiscriminate use of
01:03fireworks that led to that fire this morning.
01:07Alexander says the incident highlights what he considers gaps in the current regulation of fireworks.
01:14We need tougher laws to govern who gets to operate fireworks when and where.
01:21That is important.
01:22That has always been important.
01:24The animals, innocent people, people who lost their properties this morning, last night.
01:30Indiscriminate use of fireworks is a hazard to everybody.
01:34And we need, and the Prime Minister is absolutely correct, we need to toughen our stance on these things.
01:41When she said it was a lawless dump, that's what she meant.
01:44She didn't mean that we don't have laws, but the laws are not enforced or they're not strong enough.
01:49He's also urging the public to exercise greater responsibility when using fireworks.
01:55It's a lot of corporate irresponsibility that drives a lot of this nonsense in Trinidad.
02:00And we have to bell that cat and we have to face it.
02:03We have to get in front of it and deal with it.
02:06Fireworks are not toys.
02:08Fireworks should not be indiscriminately used.
02:10And there should be a ban on the use of fireworks outside of specific windows of time by specific persons
02:19in specific places.
02:21And if people try to smuggle fireworks into the country after you do that,
02:25the jail consequences should be long and serious and frightening to dissuade them.
02:31Investigations into the cause of the blaze are ongoing.
02:35Cindy Raguba, Tika Singh, TV6 News.
02:41Cindy Raguba, Tika Singh, TV6 News.
02:42You
