While relaxing for most, The Heroes And Benefactors Day weekend turned tragic for some when their dwellings went up in flames as a consequence of illegal electrical connections.
The second of these preventable fires happened on Sunday morning at 10:35 on Estella Metzgen street. The primary blaze started in a house occupied by people that Fire Station supervisor Kenneth Mortis has called squatters, 2 adults and a child.
Still, the real tragedy according to the landlord of the neighbouring structure that also went up in flames is that the firemen were unable to protect his structure. We asked Mortis about it this afternoon and he could only say that Mr Burgess's loss was lamentable.
Kenneth Mortis, Station Supervisor
"When we arrived on the scene we were told that just before the fire erupted into the massive inferno that it did the occupants of the building were seen fleeing th building so fortunately no one was hurt in these blazes."
Cherisse Halsall:
"People will always have complaints but Mr. burgess, who owns that secondary building feels that the fire department, didn't do enough, he feels you should have been wetting his building, from the time it was at risk and by the time your fire fighters got on the correct side of his building the water pressure had already gone down, what do you say to these comments?"
Kenneth Mortis, Station Supervisor
"What happened was our initial team made a defensive effort to the south of the current structure, the wind direction was broken in a south-easterly fashion so we had to do fire coverage exposure for that close building. It was in the blink of an eye that the breeze then turned it's direction and unfortunately that was when Mr. Burgess caught fire, um, strategic location is key on the initial stage and once we execute that and we have to re-locate and re-adjust that is where time consuming efforts come in. I understand Mr Burges complain and I understand his concern. We do not control the element of the weather, we cannot respond to an emergency scene and tell the breeze, be still. We don't have that power to do so, um, all I can say is that I am at a loss that he had to suffer the loss because of Sunday morning's event."
"A fire of almost the same magnitude, whereby this one, the structure, it was in the care of a local Belizean because the owner was in the US and then the fire department was made to understand that the occupants of this particular building became squatters themselves and became comfortable in this home that wasn't rightfully theirs, again, the. Evidence shows that this building had the wiring coming directly from the BEL pole to their structure and then subdivided within the various rooms. It was another unfortunate Sunday afternoon, Sunday mid-morning, whereby again the electrical breakdown consumed this building and then created massive damage displacing two family members to the neighbouring structure."
The dwelling where the primary blaze occurred was not insured. Its owners have lived abroad for several years.
