Tonight the Fire Department still doesn’t know what caused Wednesday night’s fire which destroyed an entire block in downtown Belize City. Business owners spent the day tallying losses and at least twenty people are still searching for new jobs. Our team was back on the scene this morning and found out that the big blaze of 08 wasn’t over until it was over. Keith Swift has the story.
Keith Swift Reporting,
For a brief moment this morning – downtown Belize City returned to normal – jewelry, CD, and newspaper vendors assumed their positions – and traffic was bustling like a normal day.
Inside Maximum International the owner Prakash Chainani was salvaging the little he could save. He says most of his inventory of shoes and women’s clothing was damaged by water and not the fire.
Prakash Chainani, Maximum International
“I have couple of boxes which they haven’t got wet. My particular place didn’t get any fire, it is just the water damage. These shoes are not wet. The price I don’t know yet. The first thing I have to find is a location.”
Chainani had to quickly pack what he salvaged in the pan of his pickup because around 10:30 when we inside the Odette’s building we saw flames. That’s right – more than 24 hours after the fire had burnt itself out – it apparently re-ignited. And it wasn’t only in Odette’s – Maximum International – which only suffered water damage was on fire – or at least the ceiling was. Yasmine Shoman is the owner of the building.
Yasmine Shoman, Odette’s Store
“When we came in this morning around 8 o’clock we noticed that there were orange flames from a top beam which collapsed in front of me when I attempted to enter my premises. We called for the Fire Department a couple times and we are still waiting for them to show up. So hopefully they can extinguish the fire for good now because I think it is still a dangerous building. We cannot enter with our adjusters yet to get a estimate of the damage or anything and I think we first of all need to make sure this area is safe. It seems to be spreading towards the Sikaffy building and I am very concerned about that.”
The Fire Department did respond – eventually – and began the fire fight on the ground floor – and they climbed up to the second floor where a fire fighter entered with an oxygen tank through a window. As a pre-emptive move- Brodies quickly closed its shutters that’s when police officers used hard talk to evacuate the area. The fire and smoke were out in about half an hour. But the area remained off limits.
This afternoon Mayor Zenaida Moya and engineers from the City Council toured
the area. The bad news is that the area will remain cordoned off. Mayor Moya says that is because it is unsafe.
Zenaida Moya, Mayor of Belize City
“From the assessment from our engineer, it has been noted that things must be demolished. The walls of the structures are all cracked. We have to remove the structures because they are unsafe. We want also open the area. To do so we would have to make sure that the demolition is done prior to opening the area. We will have to work with the business owners because they will be the ones who will have to bear the cost of removing the structures. They will have to get a contractor to do so.”
Umesh Mahitani, Owner – Ro-Mac’s
“That’s what we are trying to arrange now. We’ve contacted a few people and we are trying to get some estimates and I think we want to try to knock down the wall of this evening, today.”
Keith Swift,
Who will be paying for it?
Umesh Mahitani,
“Naturally I think we will have to be paying for that demolition and
the clearing up later on as well. We are trying to get as much help as we could.”
Keith Swift,
Have you gotten an estimate yet as to how much your loss is?
Umesh Mahitani,
“Not quite yet. We are still on the books trying to figure it out.”
Keith Swift,
When will the building come down?
Umesh Mahitani,
“I would say depending on how quickly we could get the insurance matter settled and right thereafter we want to start bringing it down, leveling it.”
Zenaida Moya,
“We will ask that he gets a contractor as early as today to try and get the process started no later than tomorrow. We cannot have this main street cordoned off for so long.”
And stores in the area which weren’t directly affected by the fire, specifically Sikaffy and Brodies say they need the area reopened because they are now being ill-affected. The supermarket manager at Brodies Sherman Sawyers says that since the fire their shutters have been down and so ahs their business.
Sherman Sawyers, Brodies Supermarket
“We have been affected to the extent that it has inconvenienced our customers. We plead with them to have some patience with us. As soon as the City Engineer gives us the okay to reopen our shutters, we will be opening them back. But we are asking our customers to use our Regent Street entrance, through the pharmacy, to access the store.”
Keith Swift,
Has it affected business?
Sherman Sawyers,
“Yes due to the fact of the inconvenience and the vehicular access, we have been having less customers in our store so of course I would say it has been affected.”
And while for Brodies it is affecting their bottom line – for some the loss is much greater and it’s not financial. For the ordinary man on the street - Ro-Mac’s was an institution of cultural memory – and now that’s it is gone – for them downtown might never be the same again.
Woman #1: It looks horrible. My goodness, I didn’t know it was this bad. Wow.
Women #2: I just have to say it is sad. Terrible. It is just sad to see this. It is just sad.
Women #3: Very distressful, very. Occasionally I would go in there and get a bite of the food that they prepare. The lunch area served the people well.
Woman #4: I don’t want to say bwoy, I am just sorry about all of it. It just chills me to the bone.
Earlier we mentioned that 20 people are looking for jobs. That figure was provided by the City Council and anyone interested in helping can call the council.
