2 Houses are Destroyed in San Ignacio Fire
A fire broke out on Fourth Street in San Ignacio on Saturday night and quickly consumed and destroyed a wooden structure. The blaze spread to an adjacent structure, which was also gutted, despite the extinguishing of the flames by fire-fighters. An investigation has since revealed that an overload of extension cords for Christmas lights outside the house caused the blaze which has left two families without a roof over their heads. The incident occurred around seven-thirty p.m.
Kenneth Mortis, Station Supervisor, National Fire Service
“Our team in San Ignacio received the call from the police department of a house fire in progress at Fourth Street San Ignacio. We responded with our units and upon arrival we found that particular structure which was a wooden structure engulfed in flames. Our team got into fire fighting operations in extinguishing and containing this fire; unfortunately not before the adjacent house which was next to it also suffering heavy fire damage. We commenced our investigation and learnt that the fire started from the primary house which is situated at number four, Fourth Street. The cause of this fire was as a result of an electrical flaw, meaning that the primary house that totally gutted was sharing electricity with the secondary house and by doing that we had a series of extension cords whereby the proprietor wanted to beautify his place with the Christmas trees and lights for the upcoming Christmas celebrations. So that’s where we are at when it comes to the fire in San Ignacio.”
Kenneth Mortis
Duane Moody
“So illegal wiring?”
Kenneth Mortis
“Not illegal wiring, [but] abuse of electricity. They were overloading the electrical cords in trying to beautify the house for the Christmas celebrations. You can say both houses lost everything even though the adjacent structure still remained standing, but it is not in a liveable condition so to speak. Both families will now have to try their best to rebuild and reform and try to get their lives returned to a sense of normalcy.”
The owners of the buildings are Amelito Segura and Raphael Smith. Smith and his family were not at home at the time of the fire.
