Fire Service admits being late to Prince St. blaze

Today the victims of a dramatic and destructive fire that occurred in the Albert division on Thursday afternoon are embarking on the painful journey of rebuilding their lives. And while their plight is a major cause of concern, tonight the National Fire Service finds itself in the hot seat because fire fighters showed up a half an hour late to the scene. This morning, I tried to find out why.

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
The National Fire Service has launched an internal investigation to determine what caused the delay in their response to the inferno on Prince Street on Thursday afternoon. Today, Deputy Fire Chief Ted Smith says the combination of human error and an interruption in communication were factors. The first call for help was received at three-thirty-five, but according to the dispatcher, the crew out on community service detail did not answer their radio.

Ted Smith, Deputy Fire Chief
“As you are well aware this is our Fire Week and we have embarked on a number of activities during this week. One of those activities was to conduct a humanitarian service within Belize City and our firemen were out doing some of those things. That should not have interrupted our response because we are equipped with communication capability. Somewhere down the line there was a breakdown in communication that we are investigating now and we were unable to establish contact with that truck as fast as we would had loved to. The watch room made some attempts, for some reason we had a communication breakdown, they were unable to hear the call that was sent out to them. We physically sent someone to get them from the station here, someone that was here physically went in a vehicle that was on the compound, borrowed a vehicle that was on the compound, informed them of the situation, and then they responded. So yes we had some delay there that must be addressed.”

That explanation for the reported half hour delay is of little comfort to the victims left homeless by the fire. Smith admits those minutes could have made a difference.

Ted Smith
“It would have reduced the extent of fire damage. I don’t know if it would have saved some of the houses that burned immediately near the house where the fire originated from. It was very, very congested and the type of structure would have made it difficult, but it could have reduced the amount of fire damage that occurred outside of that perimeter.”

“We are already starting to put measures in place to ensure that this kind of delay does not occur and these kinds of mishap does not occur again.”

Investigations into the fire itself reveal that the blaze started in the upper flat of the two storey wooden house at number fifty Prince Street and then quickly spread to the two nearby residences where the Neal and Bartley families lived. The Cadogan home was the last to catch fire. Tonight it is believe a butane gas leak was the source.

Ted Smith
“The occupants at house number fifty at the upper flat were cooking on a table top gas stove using transparent tubing. … A gas leak developed while this cooking was taking place, an ignition occurred, there was already a live or leaky flame exposed as they were cooking and then a leak occurred and then the fire developed. The cylinder was also stored inside the house, which helped to intensify the fires as it developed.”

At least eight families were left homeless.