Fire damages Albert Street business

It may not have been a big fire, but its prime location could have made it a costly one. News 5’s Patrick Jones reports on last night’s near disaster in downtown Belize City.

Patrick Jones, Reporting

Fire officials rushed to the scene at number fifty-one Albert Street around eleven forty-five last night. When they gained access to the second floor warehouse, Fire Chief Henry Baizar says they found more smoke than actual flames, indicating that the building may have been smouldering for sometime.

Henry Baizar, Fire Chief

“Visibility was nil, so, smoke just doesn?t appear like that, it must have been burning for a while. And it was not a huge fire, but the amount of smoke that was in the building, it tells us that it was burning for a while.”

According to Bob Hotchandani, whose wife Mimi owns Wholesale Plus, he was alerted of the fire by neighbours who saw smoke coming from the second floor. While investigators are now trying to locate an ignition source, Baizar says the actual burning was confined to a small area.

Henry Baizar

?There is not much fire damage to be honest with you. Very little of the material in the store was burnt. A lot of water has been thrown into the place because we had to do that, and a lot of smoke, so it?s actually heat, smoke and water damage more than fire damage.?

Patrick Jones, for News 5.

Hotchandani told News 5 that the goods in the warehouse were insured for five hundred thousand dollars. Structural damage to the three storey building is minimal. The third storey, which was rebuilt after the 1997 Prince Street fire, is used as an apartment.