Those traveling on the Western Highway on the outskirts of the city this afternoon were enveloped in blanketing billows of smoke coming from bush fires on the roadside. The Fire Department was quick to respond and extinguished the flames which created a nuisance for drivers, not to mention a traffic hazard. Who's responsible? The Fire Department's Operations Manager Michael Middleton says they believe it is case of mischief and arson.
Michael Middleton, Fire Dept.
“This afternoon we got a call of a bush fire somewhere in the vicinity of four miles on the Western Highway. The truck responded and the guys actually worked out there for about half-hour and extinguished that fire. The cause of the fire is unknown, it could possibly be that somebody just threw something out there or something like that.”
“Some of these fires can be as a result of natural causes but this is very seldom. Most of the times it is just careless people.”
“This is a problem for us especially if we have to leave Belize City to go out on the highway because the minute we send a truck out there it reduces the response capability for the residential area.”
“The most danger it poses is to the oncoming traffic because sometimes visibility becomes something like zero and there could actually be an accident.”
Middleton says they respond to reports of bush fires daily.