Overnight Fire Leaves Maskall Family Homeless
No one was injured in a fire that erupted before midnight in the Old Capital, but several families were left homeless. The blaze spread quickly completely destroying the contents of the two small houses. The fire victims lost everything without and need assistance from the public. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
An overnight fire in Belize City has left several families homeless. Sometime before midnight, a wooden structure on Maskall Street went up in flames. By the time residents of the adjacent building became alerted the inferno had already spread to their home.
Nisha Baptist, Fire Victim
Nisha Baptist
“Last night when I get up fi nurse my baby I yer like sohn noise eena di background ah di yard, like di dog dehn mi di play but then di noise continue. So I jump up and I look through my window. When I look through my window da because di fyah done reach eena di back ah fu we house. So I jump up and I knock pan di wall and I wake up my uncle fu mek dehn could get ready fi get outta di house. I gaan, put my baby down and wake up my auntie eena di back room, come back, get my baby and I put ahn through di, ova di railing fu my uncle coulda mi get ahn fi ker ahn pan di street side so I coulda mi get back een fi get di next two baby outta di room.”
While the occupants of both houses escaped the fire, nothing was saved.
Linton Maskall Sr., Fire Victim
“Everything just totally gone down, all dehn coulda mi save da just dehnself and weh dehn have on their back.”
Isani Cayetano
“Begin by sharing with us what you learned may have taken place with regards to this particular fire.”
Linton Maskall Sr.
Linton Maskall Sr.
“Well, I really cyant seh more or less weh happen like that but what I can say is that I left my brother and my son and his uncle, I guess he was playing some feech and I went down the boulevard to get me some food and on my way back I see the big smoke and uhm I drop di chicken and I started to run fi cohn sih weh I could do fi help and by di time I reach di house was already full with fire and about to reach my mom’s house. And we tried to out but soh we through di wata di more di fyah blaze.”
Isani Cayetano
“Describe to us waking up, you have your child on the bed with you and looking out to see the flames beginning to take on the other property that you were inside of.”
Nisha Baptist
“Well that unexplainable, I just di try save weh I could save and couldn’t ah mi save nothing, just my baby, my lee cousin dehn ahn try get out. Well one spell we mi feel like my uncle mi dead cause we di holla fi he and we cyant get he.”
That person is forty-year-old Linton Maskall. Today, he is surveying the damages in an effort to pick up the pieces. The house next door was his mother’s but was being occupied by his sister Carol. She too, lost everything.
Nisha Baptist
“Di house weh my sista take care of because my mom live in Cayo and my sista tek ova di house with her kids. But majority, well my kids were already out already of the house, only their uncle, he mi like nearly get trapped een deh, di only way he get out da because he stomped ih way through di window and dat da how he get out. But upstairs, my bredda he feel di heat and dat da weh wake he and he gaan and open di window and he sih di fyah and by that time dis room done already start to ketch di front room.”
Maskall maintains that the fire was not caused by a faulty electrical wiring as he had only just purchased electrical supplies for the house.
Linton Maskall Sr.
“Definitely not electrical because my house was just almost done wire. Yesterday I went to buy the last piece of weather head so that the electrician could come and deal with that and all ah dat done bun up everything.”
Isani Cayetano
“What would you estimate the losses to be more or less, at this point?”
Linton Maskall Sr.
“Well to be honest, my house alone da twenty-two thousand. The value in it is about seven to eight thousand in electrical [appliances]. I lose everything, my passport, my son’s passport, everything, social ID, everything gone up in flame.”
The Maskall family is making an appeal to the public for any assistance to get on with their lives. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
