Man Tried to Put Out Fire But Suffered Burns

We also heard from Kenneth Mortis, the Station Supervisor at the National Fire Service, who says the house on Jasmine Street, was also occupied by an elderly man at the time of the fire. He reportedly attempted to put out the fire but was burned on several parts of his body. Fortunately, he escaped with his life. An investigation is now seeking to determine the cause of the fire.

Kenneth Mortis

Kenneth Mortis, Fire Station Supervisor, Belize National Fire Service

“What we learnt Saturday morning was that sixty-seven year old Lincoln Vaughan, he became knowledgeable of the fire when he was awakened from his sleep. That is when he saw his room, located on the north eastern portion of the building, fire coming from that area. Apparently, Mr. Vaughan made an initial attempt to extinguish the blaze, however, not before he sustained burns to various part of his body, including the head, the back, the neck region, and the areas of the hand. He was fortunate enough to come out of the building before sustaining further fire damage. He received medical attention and I was informed he was discharged yesterday afternoon. We cannot directly say what caused the fire. The nature of this particular fire still has us a bit stumped, so to speak. We understand that the building does have electricity, contrary to the initial information we received. We are of the opinion that the fire could have started due to an electrical flaw. The rooms itself pose as a fire load and the fire then spread from there.”