Thousands of euros worth of equipment used by carnival enthusiasts were reduced to a cinder when the Luqa warehouse they were stored in caught fire yesterday.

I lost a big chunk of my life

“What we had inside there was priceless. I cannot even begin to tell you the cost of the equipment we had there,” one said, struggling to hold back his tears.

The carnival enthusiasts hugged and consoled each other as they saw the large warehouse in flames and their dreams going up in smoke.

The blaze also spread to a nearby Nissen hut that was being used by the Government’s anti-drug and alcohol abuse agency Sedqa for meetings.

Sources said the fire started at about 11.15am when rubbish outside the warehouse, in the Ħal Farruġ area, caught fire.

The enthusiasts said they had been asking for it to be collected for weeks.

Antoine Grech, 41, could not hold back the tears when he listed what he had lost in the fire.

“I lost a big chunk of my life,” he said, recounting how he had started getting involved in carnival when he was 17.

“If I ever managed to earn an extra €50 from work, I would put it aside to buy something new and special for carnival. It was my passion,” he said.

He doubted whether he would continue being involved now that he has lost everything.

The 75-metre-long warehouse used to be shared by three carnival companies that competed in three different categories and always placed among the top in their section.

Items inside the warehouse included paper, cardboard boxes, wood, PA systems, hydraulic machines, pumps, mechanical motors, millions of bulbs and lots of paint.

There were also about eight large cylinders of acetylene and about 10 gas cylinders that exploded in the fire.

Mr Grech said he was shattered because the items he lost included more than 1,000 mechanical motors he had borrowed from other enthusiasts, which he used to have moving parts on his floats.

The enthusiasts said that only recently they had purchased €1,000 worth of polystyrene sheets because they were preparing to start working on floats for next year’s carnival.

Civil Protection Department personnel battled with the flames for more than four hours, doing their best to prevent it from spreading to a nearby paint factory on one side and the Santa Marija Drug Rehabilitation Centre on the other.

Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca arrived on the scene to offer her support to the enthusiasts, who told her they had lost their “new home”.

She told them that the most important thing was that they were not hurt and were in good health and practically ordered them to move to the area opposite the warehouse so they would not inhale any more fumes.

The minister asked an Enemalta employee, who was checking the electricity supply, whether he had a mask to wear, to which he said yes.

“So make sure you wear it,” she insisted.