Fire destroys home; no one injured

Traffic came to a standstill on Orange Street and Water Lane in Belize City at eleven-thirty this afternoon and it wasn’t because of the works being done on nearby Albert Street. Thick smoke in the air signaled a fire which sent fire engines as well as children and adults clamoring the scene on George Street. News Five’s Jose Sanchez was there on the scene.

Jose Sanchez, Reporting
Shortly before midday, black smoke rose in the air above George Street in Belize City. A fire threatened three homes but the home occupied by four members of the Juarez Family was completely gutted by the blaze. Alicia Ferguson lives across the street from today’s inferno.

Alicia Ferguson, Witnessed Fire
“I mi just gone fi she da school and den when I come back to di lane I see smoke and blaze through di window ova deh. Dat dah all I see den I halla and ask fi my neighbor cross the next side who live side ah it.”

Jose Sanchez
“Your neighbor was inside that lives next door to the fire, what happened next?”

Alicia Ferguson
“I noh know, I just halla fi she and she come out.”

Jose Sanchez
“If she didn’t come out, something would have happened to her if you didn’t alert her.”

Alicia Ferguson
“Yes, maybe ih house woulda mi deh pan fire and ih no even mi wah know and ih still mi wah deh in deh.”

Jose Sanchez
“Are you happy with the results of the fire department?”

Alicia Ferguson
“Yeah, dehn come quick enough.”

Things could have gotten out of hand as the fire hose escaped the grips of firemen for a few seconds. Smoke pummeled its way through the windows of the house next door while the owner stood by the door hoping for the best. Within seconds the power lines began to spark and ignite. Eventually, one power line fell to the ground while many primary school students stood only a few feet away and watched without worry for their personal safety. Divisional Officer for the Fire Department, Michael Middleton, explained the Department’s response to the call.

Michael Middleton, Divisional Officer, Fire Dept.
“At eleven-thirty-four this morning we received a call of a structural fire at number eleven George Street in Belize City. We responded immediately with two trucks. On arrival we found the upper flat of number eleven George Street fully engulfed in flames. Likewise, there were two other buildings, one to the north one to the south with their eaves also on fire. The initial attack, the idea was to contain the fire to the one structure and from there we went on and we extinguished the fire.”

Jose Sanchez
“Were there kids in the house?”

Michael Middleton
“After the fire fighting operation was completed, we started our investigation. We found out that two kids were left at home for a short while and on return of an adult, they found the house on fire. We also found out that one of the neighbors had to come over and rescue the two kids from out of this house.”

Jose Sanchez
“Did you get any information that a stove was left on, a pot was on the stove?”

Michael Middleton
“Our investigation revealed that the fire actually started in one of the bedrooms so we ruled out the stove.”

Jose Sanchez
“Some people felt that you responded very quickly and swiftly on the scene. How was your own personal appraisal?”

Michael Middleton
“Well, like the people we also believed we responded very quickly and we did a good job on containing this fire into one structure.”

Fire Chief Ted Smith was satisfied with his team’s response and also explained the strategy the department used to prevent the other two adjacent buildings from going up in flames.

Ted Smith, Fire Chief
“I am very well satisfied with the performance of the team that responded to contain and extinguish that fire today. Attack the scene of the fire, attack the avenue of fire spread and exposure. On deployment, looking at the situation; the department attacked the exposure first in that situation which was both the northern and the southern adjacent structure to number eleven. After extinguishing that focused attention was put was put on number eleven.”

Jose Sanchez
“There were a lot of kids out there. Do you think the police should advise people to stay from fire because we had a lot of kids running out on the street?”

Michael Middleton
“Yeah, normally we would ask the police to help us with the crowd control because most of the time people want to help but sometimes they just end up getting in the way.”

Jose Sanchez
“Can you tell me about the danger factor because the lines were sparking and falling on the ground?”

Michael Middleton
“Well every call we receive, most of the time we have this problem. We have a relationship with the Belize Electricity Limited and on any fire call they come out and they assist us as soon as possible.”

BEL cut the power that led from the transformer to the lines that were sparking on George Street. Four sections in the area were out of power after midday. The former occupants of eleven George Street were visibly shook up by the fire that took everything, everything but life which matters most. Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.