Investigators Suspect Mentally Ill Man Set Unintentionally Set Fire to Curassow Street Home

Kenneth Mortis

We also heard from Kenneth Mortis, the Fire Station Supervisor at the Belize National Fire Service on this morning’s fire in Belize City. According to Mortis, investigators suspect that the fire was unintentionally set by the victim’s relative.

Kenneth Mortis, Fire Station Supervisor, Belize National Fire Service

“We concluded that the fire was, I don’t want say intentionally set, but it was a result of negligent use of an open flame by the uncle of the lady that lives in that building. Fortunately the fire was contained in an early stage before serious damage could have been done to that structure. Again where the Police Department lies in terms of pressing charges to that director that leads to a criminal matter. Again, these are fires that could have been a whole lot worse. We could have still been out here today, but the neighbors again I must always say they played another crucial role. The fire was detected at an early stage and it was a collaborative effort with everybody. They operated the bucket brigade, so when we arrived on the scene, as close as we were it was only a matter of throwing a couple hundreds of gallons of water and the fire was extinguished.”