7 persons homeless after fire guts building
Three families, including three school aged children are homeless after their house was gutted by fire at around eleven-thirty on Saturday morning. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but fire officials say that the blaze started inside the front part of the wooden structure and spread quickly through the house shared by the families. While firefighters responded within minutes and were able to contain the fire, nothing was saved. Freelance reporters, Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Over thirty thousand dollars worth of clothes, school supplies, household items, and more went up in flames in a mid-morning blaze on Iguana Street in Belize City. The disaster left three families with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Homeowner, Jaslyn Godoy, was inside her apartment when the fire burst through her ceiling. Due to her pregnancy, she was unable save anything. She recounted the frightening experience.
Jaslyn Godoy
Jaslyn Godoy, Fire Victim
“It was very frightening. I couldn’t believe, I always saw people having fire burns and stuff like that and I never thought it would have happened to us, but unfortunately it did. About a little after eleven-thirty when my cousin ran inside and he said there was a fire in the house. I ran outside to see the fire; that’s when I noticed everything was happening. I was so frightened I couldn’t even move anything. So I just had to leave everything; I just watch everything the entire house was to burn down.”
The fire started in the front part of the house which was also occupied by Rhondene Samuels and her two children and gas attendant, Ramon Vasquez.
Jaslyn Godoy
“The fire generated from a wall. I am not sure if it was a candle or something, but I was not inside that particular house when it happened but everything escalated so quickly.”
Duane Moody
“So it started from here and then made its way backwards?”
Jaslyn Godoy
“Yes it did.”
Duane Moody
“What all was lost?”
Jaslyn Godoy
“Basically we lost everything: stove, refrigerator, dryers, everything you can think about with household items, we basically lost all of it.”
Andrew Nunez
Firefighters arrived on the scene shortly after and were able to subdue the inferno, but everything was loss.
Andrew Nunez, Fire Safety Officer, National Fire Service
“The Belize National fire Service received and responded to the call of a fire at number forty Iguana Street in Belize City. On arrival, the front portion of the building was on fire. Immediately we went into operation to extinguish the fire.”
As to the cause of the fire, Fire Safety Officer of the National Fire Service, Andrew Nunez says that the investigation is ongoing. The house and its contents were not insured and Godoy is asking for help from the public.
Jaslyn Godoy
“Well we have to be here. Well we can’t sleep because we have no shelter at this point. So we would just like the minister to come out and do his part and try to assist us with what he can. And we would greatly appreciate it. They don’t have to provide us with an entire house, they can just give us something so that we can have a shelter and roof over our heads. I’m just asking for anybody that would like to assist us if they can kindly assist us. I ask for anything—it doesn’t matter—whatever they can assist us with, we will appreciate it.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
If anyone would like to help, they can contact Jaslyn Godoy at phone number 668-6106.
