The Tribune

CONFIRMING that NIB files were lost in the Blake Road storage fire on Tuesday, board chairman Fr James Moultrie said they did not include records of contributions or benefits.

Fire officials on the scene said the lost files seemed “very valuable” as they were kept in locked strongboxes, and The Tribune understands they were from the accounts payable department.

On Tuesday, insiders at NIB explained to the The Tribune that several hundred invoices, among other records used for reference and cross-check, were burned to ashes as 35 units at a Store Away facility were completely destroyed.

“Sometimes we have companies,” the insider said, “that come in and say that they are just getting around to doing their accounting and they now realise that we owe them money. So in those cases we would have to go down to Blake Road and retrieve files to substantiate what they are saying.”

When NIB was contacted for comment, a secretary in the office of Board Director Rowena Bethel said “well The Tribune sure knows more about our files than we do.”

She added that Mrs Bethel was not available. No calls were returned up to press time.

During another call to Board Chairman Fr James Moultrie he said the documents, “did not pertain to contributions or benefits.” However in speaking to a Fire Services official – ASP Ernest Hanna – he confirmed a preliminary investigation revealed that files contained in several “safe-like” cabinets were among the rubble.”

“We can say that it was a substantial loss,” ASP Hanna said, “a loss that we are sure will reach several hundreds of thousands of dollars in belongings and very valuable documents. “I say very valuable because just from looking at the damaged goods there were several safe-like cabinets with the documents burned. I am not sure if they were fire proof or not. We also could tell that there were packages which could mean that there were a lot of valuable items.” ASP Hanna was not able to say who the files belonged to or what caused the fire. But he urged tenants of the facility to come forward in assisting property owners as they determine exactly what items were lost in an effort to put a price tag on the damage.

“We know who the owners are and we spoke to them,” he said. “We are in the process of gathering information as our investigations continue. Management of the property were able to contact at least 50 per cent of the tenants.” Store Away was contacted yesterday, however, they said there was no comment.

The blaze at the facility happened at around 11pm Monday. On Tuesday, Fire Services Chief Walter Evans said teams responded not long after the fire began, which prevented the flames spreading.