There was a major fire in downtown Dangriga on Friday night. Jacqueline Godwin traveled south today to find that even with limited resources, the Dangriga fire team was able to contain the fire. She put together the story with the help of amateur video from James Rivas.
Michael Evans, Spokesperson - Habet Family
"I was told it was a small fire but by the time I got here the entire building was already engulfed in flame. So it definitely spread quickly and it definitely was destroyed in a very short period of time."
Investigations continue into what started the fire that completely destroyed the home of Daisy and Orlando Habet. The Habets were in their adjoining hardware store getting ready to close business for the day when they were alerted that their residence was on fire.
Orlando Pascasio, Witness
"After seeing a little bit of smoke coming out of the roof, then I ran in and informed the folks inside the store that there was a fire in their residence and by the time I was out, it was totally engulfed in flames and that was in 2 minutes. In 7 minutes there was one explosion and everything was engulfed."
Charles Vernon, O.C Dangriga Fire Station
"There was nothing much we could have done other than to contain the fire there and to ensure that it did not spread anywhere else."
Dalmon Ritchie, Next Door Neighbor
"They could not control it, it just continued to burn and burn and burn and we just wetting it, our home right with the water from inside here."
The fire which started around five forty five in the evening spread quickly and in just seven minutes time had engulfed what was once a three storey building.
Michael Evans,
"Extensive, as you can see, the entire building is destroyed, the
building actually housed the company's warehouse and the second floor was the family residence and the third floor was the recording studio. So everything from the top to bottom was completely destroyed."
The only building not destroyed is the adjoining Habet's Hardware Store that today remained open for business. Fortunately there were no fatalities or injuries but it was a close call for the owner's teenaged son who was in his bedroom but was alerted by all the noise and came out to see what was happening.
Michael Evans,
"Someone ran in the house to try and turn off the electrical, assuming that it was just something minor, and it was during that process, during the commotion, that the son came out the bedroom and normally he would be playing basketball at that time of the evening and so it was then that somebody took him downstairs and he was the only person in the house."
While there was nothing the Habet's family could have done to save their property and household possessions, their next door neighbors, the Ritchie family were busy trying to protect their home.
Dalmon Ritchie,
"I said to let us take the down the curtain, the TV, and pack the things nicely."
There was however electrical damage. According to Dalmon Ritchie their neighbor who lives in the upper flat not only had her wooden louvers destroyed by the fire but individuals pretending to be good Samaritans used the incident as an opportunity to steal.
Dalmon Ritchie,
"All they were looking to is to thief, they were looking to thief. I could say it plain without shame. It looks like when the fire started, all they wanted to do is go into house and break up things and thief. The neighbor upstairs, they went there and thief the girl's mattress, they thief the TV, and they fling down the girl's things from upstairs and break it up. It is a damn shame."
Reports reaching 7NEWS suggest that the fire may have started from a bedroom inside the attic but fire official Charles Vernon says it is too early to say anything.
Charles Vernon,
"This was a three storey building and our investigation is ongoing right now so I cannot go down into details and say exactly what started this
fire. I can tell you as much that this fire appeared to have started in a room on the second floor."
Michael Evans,
"To say that we know exactly what part of the house it started from, we are not sure."
The Dangriga Firefighters although only limited to one truck that is working were not only able to contain the blaze but stop the flames from spreading to nearby residences.
Charles Vernon,
"We attacked the base of the fire. We also dealt with the avenues of fire spread and in this area luckily we had help with the wind. It was breezy, not very windy at the time. The heat was tremendous, this was very huge indeed. The water from the water board, they quickly boosted up their line and that helped us a lot. We only had one hydrant that we were getting water from and that was not enough to really get the job that we usually look forward to do. It was not really enough so I could have only set out three lines. With those three lines, that was adequate enough to contain it and to avoid further fire spread."
The fire occurred at a time when the storeowners and their employees had just finished stocktaking. All of those supplies in the warehouse were destroyed.
Jacqueline Godwin, 7NEWS
What was insured?
Michael Evans,
"The building was insured and the contents of the warehouse were insured but the residence was not, the contents of the residence were not insured. We are all very happy that no one got hurt. We are happy that none of the neighboring buildings were extremely damaged, minor damage was done to it, and so right now it is just trying to catch our bearings and to get back on our feet and then from there decide what's going to be done, decide how we're going to put all this together. That's almost 25 years of living in that house that was lost right there."
It is not confirmed just how much the building was insured for but it was insured.
