Fire wipes out family of 8
Belize is no stranger to the disaster of fire, but the human side of any tragedy is often lost behind the spectacular pictures of roaring flames and determined firefighters. Last Friday a comparatively minor fire occurred in Belize City and while it never made the headlines, it has had a profound effect on one family.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Going back to where they lived was a painful reminder for Charles Martinez and Joyce Belgrave. The couple lost their 2-bedroom house Friday morning in a fire on 95 Butterfly Street in the Port Loyola Division. The blaze, which started after 8:00, totally destroyed the building, which Martinez built with his own hands along with everything the family owned.
Charles Martinez, Owner
“My place gone, you know. I don’t know how it burned down. At the time it burnt down I was at work at 8 miles. Therefore when the boss sent the driver of the truck to come hail me and tell me that my house is on fire you know. This was after 10:00 I would say about 10:45, minutes to 11:00 when I come here to see my house under fire, it already burned down. Right now I tell you it is the last suit on my back, all my clothes everything gone. We down about $20,000 here.”
The yard that the family took 4 years to fill is now littered with their children’s burnt clothes and possessions. Belgrave who was also at work when she received the bad news says she does not know how she will recover.
Joyce Belgrave
“I lost my big China closet, my TV stand, my sofa set, my washing machine. Cause people in the neighbourhood could tell you I had everything and I tell you I am a person that like fix up things, my home and nothing was ever missing. Everything I had because me and my husband work hard for everything now that this thing catch me I don’t have anything.”
Presently, the couple is staying in a room at Belgrave’s mother’s house, but it is too small for their family. Although the couple say they have been asking for assistance, they have received little help.
Joyce Belgrave
“I tell you Jacqueline, I have 6 children and I have it hard. I just felt how it feels when people get burnt out cause if anybody would have told me that this would have happen I would have told them no.”
Charles Martinez
“We lose everything; we got nothing. We stay in a building by my mother over there, the building is too small; it is 8 of us. we get a little support from social, we talk to Mrs. Balderamos, but nobody look back.”
The family is asking the general public to assist them in anyway possible. If you would like to help, you can contact the family at number 22 Baghdad Street.
Initial investigations by the National Fire Service indicate that the blaze started in an upstairs bedroom after a mosquito coil was left burning. The house and contents were not insured.
