There was a fire last night in Belize City. It happened at an abandoned house - but it still caused a scare in a congested neighborhood.
Daniel Ortiz has this report:
Last night, residents of Cran Street in Belize City had a public safety scare when a massive fire broke out at this 2-story, wooden building.
It was abandoned, and the wear and tear on the lumber, mixed in with the heat and the breeze were a perfect mix for this fire to threaten the entire neighborhood.
Kenneth Mortis - Station Supervisor, National Fire Service
"That was a raging inferno. The building was a very old building. The wood was aged and ripe, and the heat was intense. All in all, I think that with the fire team and those present on the ground last night, combined with civilians who pitched in to bring this fire under control - regardless of the backlash that we may have received last night - I think we did a pretty good job in trying to contain this fire into one structure. The fire had us
re-shifting our tactics. The wind played a little role in almost having us a bit bamboozled. However, we were successful. That particular structure that sits on the easter portion of the building received fire damage to the eaves and fascia board. There was a structure that sits across the street. That tells you that the heat was so intense last night that that building, fortunately, only suffered a loss to the plastic gutters. Unfortunately, the vehicle, which was an 01 Isuzu Rodeo, suffered more heat damage to various parts of the front of the vehicle not limited to - but including the windshield, the two rear-view mirrors, the bumper, and the 2 indicator lights, all located at the front. We noticed that the eastern side of the building, which housed the San Cas warehouse suffered heat [damage] at the top of the building, where the zinc is located. We noticed that a few of the cameras at the front were damaged by the heat as well."
Area resident Julio Avila lives at the house right behind the 2-story building, and he and his wife were trapped inside their home with no way to escape. He expressed gratitude to the firefighters for successfully containing the blaze.
Julio Avila - Next-door Neighbor
"I couldn't come out. It burnt - every house got burnt. The one at the front, but thank, God. The people came and checked to make sure that I am good. Thank you, God. My experience was that it was hot, very hot. Thank you to the people who came and controlled the blaze. My family and I - we couldn't come out. Thank you to the firefighters. They worked hard. Thank God, the people, my neighbor, who talked to me and helped me too."
Avila told us that he suspects that an unknown drug user snuck into the abandoned house, and started the blaze.
Julio Avila
"Any time when you hear my dogs barking. You see people come here and smoke crack. Every time I see them, I chase them away. Last night I was praying because the house burnt down."
The fire experts say that it will be difficult to find the exact source of the blaze.
Kenneth Mortis
"If that is a concrete factor toward the cause of the fire, the possibility to determine that will be next to slim. Whatever means and source they used to acquire heat in that building, that's up for grabs. We've established that the building wasn't furnished. As you rightfully mentioned, it was abandoned. We learnt that the building had no electricity. Nobody off the streets is going to come and say, 'I was occupying that building illegally.' It's a definite loss, like I mentioned, for Miss Williams and her family. The building was an approximate 20 by 24 structure, and we learned that the fire started from the inside, located at the front, which would have been the north-western portion of the building. It then spread up, and consumed the rest of the structure."
When we visited Cran Street today, we found technicians from the cable companies and from DIGI in the area. They were assessing the damage that the fire caused to the network of cables and power lines in that neighborhood. Residents tell us that BEL's power lines suffered major damage, and some of the live wires were malfunctioning and emitting sparks of dangerous electricity.
