National Fire Service on Allenby Street Fire

The Herrera family was left homeless earlier this week when a fire destroyed their house which was located at the corner of Allenby Street and East Collet Canal in Belize City. The family was displaced by the blaze that started from the upper flat of the building they occupied. The Fire Department has now determined the cause of the blaze saying it was due to an electrical problem.

Orin Smith, Station Manager, National Fire Service

Orin Smith

“Investigation revealed that the fire originated in the upper section of that building; the roof or ceiling area. The hall way was extensively damaged. The three bedrooms on the south side of the building were not as extensively damaged. The structure was occupied by seven occupants none of which were at home at the time the fire started; there were five adults and two minors.”

Reporter

“Could you tell us the cause of the fire?”

Orin Smith

“Electrical. It’s classified as electrical. The breaker panel was in the mid bedroom east wall on the south corner. There were three trip breakers there in that panel.”

Andrea Polanco

“Mr. Smith, some of the onlookers and I believe the owners of the house say that when the fire truck arrived, it didn’t have any water. How do you respond to that?”

Orin Smith

“That is their opinion. Our trucks are always filled with water. What they do not understand is the hydraulic behind the operation of the truck. If you have a truck of seven hundred gallons of water and you utilize three lines of seventy millimeters hose, each one takes thirty gallons to full. That’s thirty times three, a hundred and fifty gallons already taken from your seven hundred gallon. You have branches that discharges one hundred twenty five gallon per minute; that one hundred and seventy five gallon plus the one hundred fifty gallons. How do you think a truck with seven hundred gallons is going to last on the. The public just don’t know this. So their assumption is once the truck comes on the scene, ten minutes, ten minutes minimum they expect water to be discharged which is just not practical”