Fire destroys one house in Belize City , one in Santa Elena

Disaster in the form of a fire struck early this morning for a family of four. When Donna and Terrence Pott and their three children left their Giles Street home and headed to school and work, they had no idea that within an hour they would have lost most of their material possessions. Kendra Griffith reports.

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
When fire-fighters arrived on the scene in Lake I, there was little they could do to save the residence.

Ted Smith, Fire Chief
“This morning at eight-o-five a.m. we received a call of a structural fire at 8012 Giles Street. The department responded with three units. On arrival, we found this particular wooden structure engulfed in flames. We immediately went into operation, containing and extinguishing the flames.”

Kendra Griffith
“How long did it take you all to out the fire?”

We brought the fire under control and extinguish takes nothing more than five minutes. When you arrived here, if you checked the time you arrived, the fire was already extinguished.

Kendra Griffith
“Any ideas as to where it started, what started it?”

Ted Smith
“At this time no, the investigation has just begun.”

Neighbours say they noticed smoke coming from the back of the home and quickly called the authorities and notified the owners.

Arlette Woods, Neighbour
“When I came out to ker my son to school, only the back of the house had fire.”

Kendra Griffith
“What time this?”

Arlette Woods
“bout ten to eight. I tell my gentleman to hurry call the fire pump, he called and when he came around, we asked one of the neighbours where the person work, they tell we the female is a teacher at Lake I, the husband works at Bowen and Bowen, so I hurry send him to Lake I cause that’s closer to us. When he came, she came behind him, but the fire pump was like right before them and when they came, the house was already caught.”

At the scene, an overwhelmed Donna Pott had to be taken to the K.H.M.H. Her husband arrived minutes later to survey the damage, but according to neighbour Arlette Woods, nothing was saved.

Arlette Woods
“Me and a gentleman, well he had a burglar bar trying to get in, to save some of her stuff, but we couldn’t manage to do it. The burglar bar that was on her door and her windows were too tight for us. The only thing that got saved was the dog because he was in the yard.”

While the contents of the home were not insured, the structure was. Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.

And in the west, fire officials believe that the electrical wiring of an old fan which got overheated is what caused another blaze in Santa Elena Town. According to Vanessa Perez, around six-fifteen Thursday morning she was awakened by her twelve year old son who told her his room was on fire. Perez grabbed both her sons and quickly ran from the building. The concrete and wooden two-storey structure and its contents were completely destroyed. The building and possessions were valued at a hundred and seven thousand dollars, neither were insured.