Fire guts buildings on Ferrel Lane…
Dry season is always a peak time for fire, and while there is no evidence that the weather played a role in either of two major fires in Belize City, there were some anxious moments this afternoon for residents of the old capital. The first of the back-to-back blazes hit in a part of town that is home to some of the city’s oldest structures. I arrived on the scene just as the flames became visible.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Just after three this afternoon, passers-by watched as small flames began to emerge from the downstairs flat of this two-storey wooden building on Ferrel Lane.
And as a growing number of horrified spectators gathered, the blaze quickly became an inferno, completely engulfing the structure and darkening the afternoon sky with thick black smoke.
One eyewitness watched as a trapped occupant jumped through an upstairs window to save his life.
Kirk Estrada, Eyewitness
“Fire start from it small, from the bottom the fire start from, then from deh, it gone upstairs. I tell my boss that I see fire and he come down. And from deh I see a lee bwai di come through the housetop. He come through and he done come out already.”
There were at least two other people at home at the time of the fire, but thanks to the quick thinking of neighbours, they were rushed to safety.
Geovanni Burns, Eyewitness
“When I passed around the building I saw the fire coming from underneath the lower flat. I was trying to break the water pipe to see if we could get it out, but no one want to help us, so I called for the fire pump… I called the police station first and tell them to send the fire pump over.”
When authorities arrived on the scene, they focused their efforts on the western side of the building, but they were no match for the intense heat and a strong east wind. The building’s owner, attorney Michel Chebat, could only join the hundreds who helplessly watched from the sidelines.
Nervous neighbours quickly gathered their loved ones and belongings as the fire quickly began to spread.
The house directly adjacent to the burning building was the first to go, and despite fervent attempts by the firemen at the scene, the Chamber of Commerce warehouse was next.
But even as staff and family members rushed to save equipment and resources from the main building, President of the Chamber of Commerce, Mark Lizarraga, vented his frustration over how the fire department handled the emergency.
Mark Lizarraga, President, Belize Chamber of Commerce
“This is the best case of un-professionalism that I have seen in a long time. There was no need for this building or the other building, as far as I am concerned, to catch on fire. We were without water for about twenty minutes or more. The firemen seemed to be so disorganised, total un-professionalism. There was no communication among the firemen, no radio communications, nothing whatsoever, total un-professionalism as far as I can see.”
Janelle Chanona
“Was the building insured?”
Mark Lizarraga
“I don’t even know, at this stage I don’t even know. But more important than that, was that our building housed all the records of the Chamber, so there is a lot of historical damage that has taken place here as well. My heart goes out to the people surrounding us, at least no one lived in our building, it’s only records. But there’s people who lost their homes here today, as far as I am concerned, for no reason.”
While officials will spend the next few days trying to ascertain the cause of the fire, occupants of the house on Ferrel Lane say they have always had a problem with the building’s wiring. In fact, the residents told News 5 they had to physically touch wires in the house to turn on the lights.
