Ministry of Human Development Responds to Deadly House Fire

The deadly house fire on Tuesday morning in Belize City that claimed the life of a young mother and her two children remains under investigation by the National Fire Service.  Meanwhile, the Ministry of Human Development has also been working closely with the family of the deceased woman.  According to Minister Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, social workers were placed on that assignment immediately when the ministry became aware of the tragedy.

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Minister of Human Development

“There’s no fire in Belize, especially in the urban areas, I mean I cannot speak for every single rural area, but really, there is no fire in the city that we do not respond immediately.  Our women and families support department were on the ground immediately.  We reached out to Honorable Patrick Faber since he is the elected area rep and there is absolutely no politics here.  It is a terrible tragedy.  We were immediately on the ground with both families because apparently there were two incidents and we are offering support, we are making sure that surviving family members are placed with family.  We are offering support in terms of food, counseling, counseling in particular, but also we will be doing the follow-up and I do want to recognize that some of our senior staff and social workers have really gone above and beyond the call of duty…  Ms. Ana Williams is our director, she passed it on immediately to the social workers and I even spoke with Ms. Tiffany [Garbutt] probably almost around seven o’clock last night and she was still with one of the families and we will continue to offer the counseling and the support.”