A FIRE at midday gutted a pallet factory on the Eastern Main Road in Sangre Grande on Sunday.

Fuelled by the wood and strong wind, the blaze spread quickly and destroyed the factory, threatening nearby homes on the family compound which is adjacent to Xtra Foods supermarket.

When Newsday arrived on the scene around 12.15 pm, fire officers were battling the inferno, but they eventually ran out of water. One of their hoses was seen leaking badly.

As the fire tender left to refill supplies, an occupant of one of the houses was seen using a bucket to throw water on his roof to prevent it from catching afire.

When the fire tender eventually returned, an emotional Carl Sampson, owner of the factory, began screaming as he approached the officers. "Allyuh slow, allyuh real slow," he shouted as another relative tried to calm him.

Sampson estimated his losses to be $2 million as there was a block machine which he valued at $1.2 million, inside the factory. He said he was not at home when the fire started but got a call from his wife.

"We just seeing fire. We just seeing flames. We doh know if somebody light fire and it spread...we wait for a whole half-hour, if the fire brigade had reached in time, this wouldn't have been so. Meh whole warehouse, meh whole factory warehouse burned down," he cried.

A relative told Newsday she just smelt smoke and by the time they ran out their homes they saw the fire raging.

Newsday understands that fire officers received a report about an "indiscriminate fire" at the location. But when they responded they were shocked to see a warehouse well ablaze. There were no reports of injuries. Investigations are continuing.