Fire ravages Cap-Haitien’s Cluny Market, vendors reeling in despair
By the morning of Jan. 25, Cluny Market was ash. Vendors dug through the debris, hoping to salvage food and income after a late-night fire tore through the indoor market. The post Fire ravages Cap-Haitien’s Cluny Market, vendors reeling in despair appeared first on The Haitian Times.
Black News 
CAP-HAÏTIEN — Hours after a fire tore through the indoor market Cluny Market in downtown Cap-Haïtien overnight on Jan. 24, locals were climbing over charred beams and broken concrete, digging through the debris for any merchandise that might still be saved. Vendors stood nearby, inspecting bags pulled from the wreckage, brushing off smoke stains and deciding whether what remained could still be sold.
For many, it was a last attempt to recover something — anything — from what had been their livelihood.
One long-time vendor who goes by ManTi Lime was among them. She said she had 80 bags of black beans, worth $2,000 stored inside the building. When five men retrieve what they could for her, the bags were scorched at the top, blackened by smoke and heat.
“These are useless to me,” said a, hands shaking as she held her phone. “Those bags aren’t worth anything to me. We don’t have a government.”
“This is where I worked, I’m not making money anywhere else,” Jean said. “It’s like they took our soul from us.”
Mackenzie Jean, wheelbarrow driver in Cap-Haitien
In a press release from town hall, authorities said about 30 storages and hundreds of small shops were destroyed, according. As of Sunday, no deaths or injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire had not been determined.
“Cap-Haitien’s Town Hall expresses its solidarity with the merchants, vendors, employees and those affected by this tragedy that affected an emblematic place for the economic, social and historic life of the city,” the town officials said.
Vendors scrambled on Sunday, January 25, 2026, to recover what merchandise they could salvage in the aftermath of the fire at Cluny Market. Photos by Onz Chery/The Haitian Times 
Vendors scrambled on Sunday, January 25, 2026, to recover what merchandise they could salvage in the aftermath of the fire at Cluny Market. Photos by Onz Chery/The Haitian Times 
Vendors scrambled on Sunday, January 25, 2026, to recover what merchandise they could salvage in the aftermath of the fire at Cluny Market. Photos by Onz Chery/The Haitian Times 
Vendors scrambled on Sunday, January 25, 2026, to recover what merchandise they could salvage in the aftermath of the fire at Cluny Market. Photos by Onz Chery/The Haitian Times 
Vendors scrambled on Sunday, January 25, 2026, to recover what merchandise they could salvage in the aftermath of the fire at Cluny Market. Photos by Onz Chery/The Haitian Times 
Vendors scrambled on Sunday, January 25, 2026, to recover what merchandise they could salvage in the aftermath of the fire at Cluny Market. Photos by Onz Chery/The Haitian Times
Cluny Market, renovated in July 2024, housed hundreds of vendors selling food and household goods. By morning, most of that space has been destroyed. Residents said the fire began around 10:30 p.m. Merchants attempted to extinguish the fire by throwing buckets of water while others scrambled to pick up their goods.
Firefighters arrived hours after the blaze began, residents said. After they left, small fires were still burning on the ground. People poured water over hot spots, not only to prevent flare-ups, but to dig deeper into the debris for goods.
As people picked through the ruins, tensions rose. Some residents questioned whether food pulled from the debris was safe to eat.
“I don’t want those beans,” Jodelin Auguste, taxi-moto driver, said. “The owners of those beans have no common sense. But I’m not happy because the market caught on fire. The vendors lost a lot of stuff. And many probably borrowed money to buy them.”
Others went further. Multiple residents and vendors said some people took bags of money from the stalls that did not belong to them. Few police officers or security guards were present to secure the area.
The losses extend beyond vendors.
Several bouretye, Haitian Creole for wheelbarrow pushers, who transported goods to the market, also lost their main source of income. Mackenzie Jean, one of them, stood quietly beside his wheelbarrow, staring at the debris. Earnings from his work at the market helped support his 3-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son.
“This is where I worked, I’m not making money anywhere else,” Jean said. “It’s like they took our soul from us.”
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