Calla Creek Residents Extinguish Sunday Blaze

Kenneth Mortis

At midday on Sunday, personnel from the National Fire Service, a team of firemen stationed in Benque Viejo Town, responded to a house fire in Calla Creek Village.  By the time they arrived on the scene, residents had already put out the fire.  The homeowners were lucky to have been able to stem the spread of the blaze and save the rest of the structure from going up in smoke.  Here’s more from the Station Officer Kenneth Mortis.

Kenneth Mortis, Station Officer, National Fire Service

“Sunday afternoon, just between the lunch hours of 12:30 and 12:35, the Benque fire team was alerted of a fire in progress in the Calla Creek Village.  When our team arrived in that location, we observed what was a twenty-five-by-twenty-four concrete structure with zinc roofing that had sustained fire damage to one of the rooms and the kitchen area, primarily.  We didn’t see a fire, as the fire had been extinguished by neighbors and occupants of that structure, but what we learned was that the fire started as a result of a butane cylinder that had fallen from its standing point and once it fell, it ruptured the butane line.  Seeing that the stove was active and actually cooking the Sunday afternoon lunch, the open flames combined with the emitting of the butane fumes, ignited that fire.  Fortunately, for that family, the entire building was not destroyed, so they could have almost commenced the cleanup phase right away and try to resume themselves to a sense of normalcy.  The fire, unfortunately, spread to a vehicle that was nearby and it has been concluded that financial damage to both the vehicle and the structure at the time was between four thousand to five thousand Belize dollars.”