Jamaica Bedding to ‘look at all options’ after massive fire

A massive fire which started about 7:50 pm Tuesday night quickly consumed the entire facility located at the compound’s rear of sister company OJ Koolers on South Street, Old Harbour.

Within approximately an hour firefighters from Old Harbour, May Pen and Spanish Town worked assiduously to extinguish the blaze with no report of anyone being injured.

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s blaze firefighters have been busy at the scene trying to ascertain the cause, while Jamaica Bedding officials are crunching the numbers to determine the estimate of the damage.

Whatever that final figure is the company faces an uphill battle in the short term to meet their immediate obligations to general customers and major clients.

“[We] might have to explore the feasibility of carrying in foam from elsewhere… but have to look at all the options before I can make any decision. Today right now I’m trying to marshall all the people who will be dealing with those stuff (and) I don’t want to be bogged down [because] it’s too emotional…I’m trying to keep my calm,” said Lewin, speaking to Old Harbour News.
“Sourcing foam from elsewhere is an option but it has to be a viable option. If it’s not viable it doesn’t make sense,” a clearly distraught Lewin added.

As images of the blaze started circulating on social media there was a bit of confusion as to which of the companies was on fire of the family-run business that falls under Fairlane Holdings, the parent company.

In his explanation Lewin said: “It’s not a storage facility, it’s a foam-making factory. That’s where you make the foam. It’s part of the [Jamaica Bedding] factory and then the foam would be transported next door (to the East Street location) for the mattress making and all the other things that foam go into.”

Foam is manufactured using a combination of petroleum-based chemicals hence the reason why the entire factory was engulfed so swiftly, despite the Old Harbour fire station literally next door to it. 

“Bear in mind that foam is a fuel… and it’s highly flammable,” Lewin noted.

Twelve employees assigned to the foam factory will be directly impacted, according to Lewin, but in the interim will be redeployed elsewhere in the company where their services are needed.

The mattress and furniture company will continue to operate obviously not at full capacity given the high demand for products that use foam.

Asked how soon he thinks the company will be able to begin manufacturing foam again, Lewin could not come up with a realistic timeframe, saying “those [foam] machines came from out of Taiwan.”