Fire on Hunter’s Lane leaves three people homeless
For the second time in the last seven days, Belize City firemen were called upon to put out an early morning fire, this time on the north side. According to Fire Chief Henry Baizar, the call came into the station around four twenty Sunday morning. When fire fighters arrived on the scene at number fourteen Hunter’s Lane, the small wooden structure had already been gutted and the adjacent building was on fire, but was saved by the quick work of the firemen. Baizar says investigation into the origin of the blaze is practically over.
Henry Baizar, Fire Chief
“The reason for this as far as we are concerned is the house that burned did not have any current. It was under no electricity but this person had an extension cord from the neighbor house down to her house and it is suspected that the fire started from there.”
Q: “So that one might have been an electrical problem even through the house was not wired for electricity?”
Henry Baizar
“Yes, I think that they probably overloaded the cord and it probably melted and what not. If you do use an extension chord you have to use a high powered extension chord if you’re using it for light and everything else and what not.”
According to Baizar, at the time of the fire, the house was being occupied by three people, none of whom were injured in the incident. The building was not insured.
While neither of the early morning fires has been linked to the current stretch of dry weather and soaring temperatures, the fire chief says there are a couple of simple safety measures a person can employ that could mean a world of difference in safeguarding prized possessions, even human lives, from the ravages of fire.
Henry Baizar
“This time is very difficult for us; we got fire ever so often. But because it is the dry season people have to be sensitive about what they are going to do. If you’re going to leave your home you ought to make sure that you’ve tuned off everything that can start a fire. You turn off your fans, you turn off your lights as much as possible and what not. And insure that if you left children home and what not, you make sure that matches and things are not visible for them to find it.
This time we get a lot of bush call fires – in the city and out of the city. What people should do is ensure that the surrounding around their houses are clean. Because if even if there is a fire when it get to your area and what not, then the fire won’t spread unto your house.”
In related news, Baizar says the smoky condition city residents have been experiencing over the last two days may be the result of brush fires that are burning on the outskirts of the city. The wind blown smoke combined with the haze from soaring temperatures is making it uncomfortable for some people and Baizar reminds the public that it is against the law to light open flames in Belize City.
Henry Baizar
“The thing here in Belize City is that a lot of people cut what is supposed to be in their yard; there is no house in their yard and they just set the place on fire. And they just leave it there and go about their business. It is not until somebody realizes that there is a big fire in the area and you have to hurry go there and try to out the fire.
People must also realize that the smoke cause some people discomfort. Some people are sick with asthma and these sort of things and old people in these houses and what not and then the smoke just get in there and disrupt the whole people. People hang their clothes out on the line and when they find out they have to go and do it all over again and it is not fair to some people and what not. So we ask people not to burn, it is illegal to burn anything in Belize City.”
In case of emergencies the public is reminded that the number to call to report a fire is 90. That service, however, is available only in Belize City.
