Belize City fire leaves 11 homeless
A Saturday morning fire has destroyed what was home for two Belize City families. News 5’s Jacqueline Woods visited the scene this morning.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
The blaze that completely destroyed the two storey wooden building on Neal Pen Road left eleven persons homeless. Michelle Young, one of the fire victims, says she had just gone to a nearby store to buy food to cook and as she was walking back to the house she saw the flames and her children running through the alley away from the burning building.
Michelle Young, Fire Victim
“I got up the morning and I put on a pot of water fi hot to put on some rice and I gone dah the shop. The six kids then di watch TV at the time and I lef on the stove yes, but the shop is, as you can see, not even a minute away from my house. On my way back, I saw the children running through the alley the holler “fire!” along with the young lady upstairs. Then time, the fire done spread. I come round to try get in, but then the tank was there and dah close to the tank, so I seh it wah explode and everybody run back through the alley. The other people outside mi di try help me, but…”
Jacqueline Woods
“There was not time to save none of your possessions.”
Michelle Young
“Nothing, nothing at all.”
Investigations reveal that the fire started as a result of a faulty connection between the stove and the gas line.
Ted Smith, Operations Manager, National Fire Service
“The leak was right exactly where the copper tubing was screwed on to the stove itself. So this was deep within the stove just below one of the front burner.”
The upper flat of the house was occupied by Angela Smith and her three children. Fire Service Operations Manager Ted Smith says it took the fire fighters ten minutes to bring the blaze under control, but because the structure was old it burnt quickly and there was not much they could have done to save it. Jacqueline Woods reporting for News 5.
Smith believes the fire could have been prevented and advises residents to check their stoves to see that they are properly connected.
