Dating back to 1949, Sunny Side Bakery is Belize City's flagship bakery, but this afternoon the legendary bakery on Racecourse Street almost went up in flames. Shortly before one this afternoon, an old oven in the bakery sparked a fire in the back building. It was a small and it was quickly extinguished but it could have been much worse. Here's more.
Keith SwiftReporting,
Smoke wafted out of Sunny Bakery on Racecourse Street just before 1:00 this afternoon. The problem was inside with the oven. It caught on fire and burned a hole through the roof here. Bakery owner Zebedee Pitterson saw it from his home across the street.
Zebedee Pitterson, Owner
"When I looked from my verandah I saw heavy smoke across here. Then I ran across here to come and see what was happening but at that time the back there was already on fire."
The Fire Department responded almost instantly from its Dolphin Street branch. When we got there fire crews stood on the roof of an adjoining building to control it from outside, while other teams sprayed it from inside.
Henry Baizar, Fire Chief
"We got the call about 12:55 and within the first couple minutes the first truck arrived here, the other one arrived a next minute later on and we had water, we had enough fire fighters, and we controlled it within a short period of time. It is now under control and it hasn't spread to any other buildings so I think the men did an extremely good job today."
But Baizar is aware, this had the recipe for a genuine disaster.
Henry Baizar,
"It is actually a fire hazard in truth. The thing is that the house is next to the bakery, 6 feet away, and there are two other houses in the yard, very close, and it is all wooden houses and if this fire had the opportunity to get away, it would have been disastrous."
So what went wrong with the oven? Pitterson told the media that it hadn't been used for six months.
Zebedee Pitterson,
"I can't tell directly but they said that my son lit the oven and the oven hadn't been lit for about six months and I guess we had packed shortening back there and I think some of the fat ran off and went into the oven and then when the oven picked up the heat, I think it started to ketch from the bottom there."
And why was the backup oven used today. Pitterson says the cool weather made it difficult for the bread to rise, so they used the oven to speed things along.
Zebedee Pitterson,
"He wanted the bun to raise faster and so he lit that to put it in there to raise and then he would finish baking it in this one because due to the cold weather, it raises slow."
But don't let these discarded bins of bread and bun fool you, Sunny Bakery is good and ready.
Keith Swift,
Mr. Zebedee so when will you be able to open back for business?
Zebedee Pitterson,
"Business? No man we won't shut down because they have an open that can work. It is just the back will need to be repaired but we can still work this oven here."
Keith Swift,
People will still be able to get their bun this evening?
Zebedee Pitterson,
"Yes they will be able to get their bun but, I believe, late."
This evening, Fire Chief Henry Baizer confirmed what caused the fire. He said it is related to the oven, but it did not start in the oven. He explains that a faulty fuel filter was at the center of it. The filter was leaking diesel oil. When that came in prolonged contact with the outside of the hot oven, that started the fire.
Zebedee Pitterson estimates the damages to be about $50,000. This isn't the first fire in the building, Sunny Side was devastated by a fire back in 1994.
