Three children left home alone perished in a house fire last night. The tragedy unfolded in the San Martin area of Belmopan on Guyana Street where Francis Hernandez, a single father lived with his children: 11 year old Adonai, 10 year old Abigale, and 6 year old Noemi Hernandez. Sometime after 11 last night Hernandez left his children Sleeping. It is unclear if he locked them inside the house but they could not get out and neighbours told us they heard desperate dying cries from his three children. Keith Swift was in San Martin today and found a close-knit community united by shock and grief.
Keith Swift Reporting,
The three children perished inside the home they shared with their father. This is all that’s left of that one bedroom house. Their neighbours on Guyana Street in the San Martin area of Belmopan heard the children’s terrible screams.
Heysi Palma, Neighbor
“I heard screaming. I was still awake but I really did not know what was happening until I opened the window of my home and I saw the fire.”
Israel Gonzalez, Neighbor
“I heard screams by this area here. I hurry ran, because my mom told me to come and check, and so I came to see what was going on. When I came here, I started to throw some water on top of the roof because I heard some kids screaming in there and so that was my reaction.”
Heysi Palma,
“They were shouting, ‘dad help us,’ and we came running to the side of the house and we tried to get some hose and throw some water but the fire was already too much.”
Israel Gonzalez,
“They were calling on their father to help but they were crying. Afterwards when I heard them, their voices were lowing down so I said they already died.”
The Belmopan Fire Department says they got the call at about 11:45 and they responded as soon as they could. But by they got here, it was too late. The house was already devoured and the cries of the children were silenced.
Fidel Castenedez, Belmopan Fire Department
“The house had already burnt completely; it was totalled. So we immediately got into operations to extinguish the remnant of the fire. And while doing so
the neighbours notified us that during the fire they heard screams. So we began to be more cautious as to how we went about removing the rubbles and that is when we discovered or came across three bodies. So we informed police as to our find.”
The blaze destroyed the home - the only things identifiable are the charred stove, this bicycle, and this doll – probably belonging to Francisco’s 6 year old daughter. There was also this locked padlock near the area of the front door – which may be an important clue to fire investigators.
Keith Swift,
In what area of the house were the children found?
Fidel Castenedez,
“These three children apparently were trying to make their escape since they were found almost at the exit at the door. They were all lying together.”
Keith Swift,
Do you know if they were locked inside and couldn’t get out?
Fidel Castenedez,
“We haven’t established that as yet. All we know is that the father, Francisco Hernandez, they came from church at about ten o’clock and thereafter he put them to sleep and he went to work. We haven’t verified if he literally locked them from outside or they locked themselves.”
He left his children at home but neighbours say Francisco is a single father – a hard working man - and he left his home last night to make tamales to sell at the market.
Heysi Palma,
“He was with his friend doing tamales to go and sell at market day, today Friday. And while he was out, well the accident happened.”
Keith Swift,
From what you have observed, was he a responsible father?
Heysi Palma,
“Well what I have seen, I could say yes because all the time he went out, he took his kids but this time maybe they wanted to sleep or something and he left them and that was it.”
Israel Gonzalez,
“It was the first time, the first he left them because he told us it was the first time. We knew that when he went, he took his kids but it was the first time.”
Sandra Martinez, Neighbour
“They did not have a mother but they had a father who loved them very much because we see that he took care of them a lot and he was a special father with them. He was very nice because we used to see that he really loved his kids and they did not have a mother, they did not go to school, but I don’t have nothing bad to say about them. They were very special.”
And that’s why an entire community is grief stricken.
Sandra Martinez,
“I am a parent and I think it is something very hard. It is something very very hard. I get to know them because they are always around. The whole day they are here playing with my little girls and it is something very hard.”
Danny Quiroz, Neighbour
“It is something very hard. Everyday you see their father and they go to the shop and probably I would be outside on the verandah and they would say hi to me. They were very respectful children.”
Heysi Palma,
“It is really hurtful and sad. I just feel like frightened at the same time and this could help us to be more careful.”
Israel Gonzalez,
“I just feel real bad. I couldn’t sleep the whole of last night because I was thinking about what happened.”
Keith Swift,
You knew him?
Israel Gonzalez,
“Yes they were my neighbours.”
Francis Hernandez moved to Guyana Street six months ago.
The father is detained. Police haven’t indicated if he will be charged. Some things to note are that the house did not have electricity. They used a candle and that is being looked at as a likely cause. Hernandez is a single father because his former wife is in Honduras. They have lived in San Martin for 6 months but as one resident noted – the children did not attend school.
In September of 2006, two children left home alone perished in their home in Trial Farm Village. Their mother Lavern Palacio Alvarez was charged with two counts of manslaughter by negligence. In that case, Palacio-Alvarez left her children alone so she could attend a party.
