Foreshore fire burns two homes
The streets of downtown Belize City were filled with holiday shoppers on Saturday morning, but all heads turned when the cry of “fire” broke out. Smoke was billowing from the direction of the southern foreshore and within minutes fire trucks were making their way through the tangle of traffic. Two buildings were ravaged and ten people lost their living quarters, but fortunately no one was injured. News Five was there.
The fire began just after eleven a.m. in this abandoned three-story building and then quickly spread to the Usher’s residence and apartments.
The Usher’s building, which was close to two hundred years old, was completely destroyed. Antonette Usher who lived in the lower flat said she only had time to save her baby.
Antonette Usher, Fire Victim
“Only my baby and myself, nothing else. I lost everything.”
While the Usher family and two tenants managed to exit the building, they quickly became concerned about a third tenant, Jacqueline Ifield. Ifield nearly became trapped in her attic as flames burned the roof.
Antonette Usher
“Well some of the guys from the streets went upstairs and started breaking down doors and glass to get her attention but when we saw her by the window we told her to come out because we had a fire. Because the fire had already started to come through her roof and then she almost jumped because her feet was already out. So we told her not to jump come down by her door so she came out.”
As the fire spread throughout the building, Ifield’s flat completely caved in. Luckily no one was injured. Today as police and fire officials try to determine the cause of the blaze, initial investigations suggest that the fire may have been started by a man seen exiting from the abandoned building just moments before. Usher said she was doing laundry when she saw a Hispanic man go inside the building.
Antonette Usher
“Sprang head always go up and you always have the tourism police go up and take them out. Even when I see somebody inside I would go and tell the tourism police and they would take them out.”
Henry Baizar, Fire Chief
“Well two trucks arrived at the scene and when we arrived here the building where the fire started was already engulfed in flames. Flames were already coming out of it so they hurriedly got into operations and started fighting the fire.”
However, many witnesses told News Five there was a long delay between the time the firemen arrived and when the water was sprayed on the houses. Usher believes her family’s house could have been saved.
Antonette Usher
“They took too long and when they came they never had too much pressure for the water and they lost a lot of time right there.”
But Henry Baizar, the Fire Chief says there was nothing more that could have been done.
Henry Baizar
“No way, no way at all.”
Q: “How come?”
Henry Baizar
“The heat of the fire, the height of the fire walls. When you arrive at a fire scene, normally you would arrive at the fire scene about six to seven people fighting the fire but not even fighting the fire, six to seven people on both vehicles plus another one would have to assist getting the water from the canal and what not.”
Baizar said when they arrived on the third truck, it took sometime for the men to connect the hose and get water to fight the blaze but by this time the fire had already engulfed the Usher’s building.
Henry Baizar
“We concentrated on the other building because this one had already… When I got here both buildings were already on fire so we concentrated on the other building over there where the community drug wholesale.”
The Community Drug Stores Wholesale depot only received minor damage.
The building belonging to Gerald Usher was valued at two hundred thousand dollars.
