Couple homeless after late evening fire in the city

A Belize City couple is homeless after a fire on Monday destroyed their home on Arlington Drive in the Fabers Road area. Fire Department personnel were called to the area at five forty p.m. to battle the flames. A significant portion of the home was destroyed by the time the fire was extinguished. That was bad enough, but the fates were cruel, and the fire caught again hours after. That blaze finished off the destruction, and by the time it was done Gilbert and Alva McKoy had lost everything. Today, National Fire Service Operations Officer, Benisford Matura, revealed that the fire started in the bedroom of the home.

Benisford Matura

Benisford Matura, Operation Officer, National Fire Service

“Both appliances form the north-side and the south-side went to the area and found a twenty-five by twenty wooden structure engulfed in flames. We got into operation and extinguished the fire. At that point approximately eighty percent of the structure was damaged along with the contents. An investigation was launched immediately after extinguishment and we discovered that the fire originated in the bedroom…the main area that got burned was a mattress. Further investigation led us to show that what happened was that Mr. McKoy was in said room taking a nap and he came out to the living room and left the fan on. The fan overheated and fell on the bed and caught the whole room on fire and it spread over the house. It’s protocol that before we leave a scene we walk through and make sure that everything is out, is completely extinguished. We did that yesterday but at some point probably a small, minute area of coal was overlooked and over the night, with the little wind that’s blowing, it rekindled and we had a rekindling of this fire at one, or a little bit after one this morning.”

Neither the structure nor the items inside were insured.