3 Families Displaced by Early Morning Fire on Rivero Street
Three families have been displaced by an early morning fire on Rivero Street in Belize City. If the area sounds familiar that is because just last week, an eighteen-year-old resident was shot dead a couple blocks away on Fabers Road and there has been tension in the area ever since. In fact, one of the affected families, where the fire broke out, is claiming police harassment. They say officers have been in and out of the yard since the shooting. But on Sunday morning, the fire began on the veranda to the elevated wooden structure and spread to consume another house in an adjacent property, destroying everything in its path. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
It was around three a.m. that Jayson Camille says he was alerted to cries of fire. Five of them occupied the home, including his girlfriend and daughter.
Jayson Camille
Jayson Camille, Fire Victim
“About three o’clock yo get that sounding that fire, fire, fire. So yo noh di think dah your house; yo di think dah cross the street, the neighbours or something, but when I open the windows that dah when reality hit. Dah fuh real; we have to start do something.”
The fire broke at the front door on the veranda of the Sanchez family home on Rivero Street. The eldest son received burns to the back and leg and those who were inside had to jump from the burning elevated structure to the ground to escape the inferno. Dulce Sanchez believes that the fire was deliberately set.
Voice of: Dulce Sanchez
Voice of: Dulce Sanchez, Fire Victim
“My oldest son came knocking on the door, telling me that there is fire on the house. I asked him if he was okay. He got scorched on his back and he said that the three persons that were in there, they had to jump from the top to the bottom. Thank God myself and my daughter-in-law were not in there because she is pregnant.”
Duane Moody
“Where exactly did the fire start?”
Voice of: Dulce Sanchez
“It started from the door. The entrance on the veranda.”
Duane Moody
“That sounds like somebody set that.”
Voice of: Dulce Sanchez
“Yes, yes. The end of last year, I just renovated this house, everything in there – appliances, veranda, inside everything. I just borrow money to renovated it and it all went down in the blink of an eye.”
Fortunately for Camille and his family, no one was injured. He says that he was only able to save a few pieces of clothes and important documents, but everything else was lost in the fire – destroyed by the blaze or water damaged.
Jayson Camille
“I mi still ina wah state a shock coming out of wake – dehn wake yo up outta yo sleep – so I mi have that first thirty seconds I mi just confused, loss, noh know how fuh feel, weh fuh do. When yo see the fire start touch your house, your ceiling that dah when yo start. My first instinct dah mi my kids. I mi have mi nephew di sleepover and everything and first thing dah mi fi get them out. My personal next thing dah mi fi get all documents, my daughter stuff. I neva remember my own stuff – my keys, my wallet, my phone – all that perish.”
Having lost everything, both families are asking for assistance to rebuild.
Jayson Camille
“Mein recovery, I woulda say dah wah start over, yo know. Can’t really say recover from something like this, but yo could start new.”
Duane Moody
“How can people help if they choose to?”
Jayson Camille
“Anything at this point would be accepted. Yo can’t turn down nothing at this time when yo noh have nothing, yo know. Yo can’t turn back nothing anyways same way too. So anybody weh, anything that unu feel like we or any of the families can use, we wah personally accept.”
Voice of: Dulce Sanchez
“It is very hard losing something that you work hard for, so all we can do right now is just ask for assistance, nothing else. We are just waiting for the report from the fire department so that we can go around and see what we can do because we lost everything, everything. We have nothing. My daughter-in-law is pregnant, baby clothes that we were trying to get – everything, yes.”
Despite the loss, both families commend the response of the National Fire Service.
Jayson Camille
“If it mi di blow ina wah different angle, might mi wah have a better chance because the fire service did fairly good. From me waking up to trying to salvage what we could, dehn guys mi done – when I di run out, dehn di run in. So I must commend the Belize fire service, dehn guys – dehn go above and beyond. I could tell you from personal experience, it noh easy, and dehn guys make an effort to try weh dehn coulda mi do fi try save what we had.”
Both houses were not insured and the estimated loss is unknown. Duane Moody for News Five.
If you would like to assist the families, Jayson Camille can be reached at 629-1527 and Dulce Sanchez can be reached at 602-9150
