Lord’s Bank fire leaves mother and 6 children homeless

The second house that went up in fire over the weekend belonged to a single mother, Maria Rodriguez of Lord’s Bank. Rodriguez now has to rebuild a house for her six children, some of whom are of school age. News Five’s Delahnie Bain found out that the family was in the City when the structure went up in flames. It is believed that the arsonists are also involved in a string of crimes in the area.

Delahnie Bain, Reporting

A single mother and her six children are left with nothing but the clothes on their backs following a fire on Saturday night. One of the victims, Claudia Rodriguez, says her family was in Belize City when they got the devastating news.

Claudia Rodriguez, Fire Victim

“Saturday we mi deh dah my ma work and den dehn call my brother-in-law and dehn tell ah my ma house mi di burn down. Den we tell my ma and we come from down so round eight o’clock come si di house and when we mi come di house done burn down already. My ma tell we nobody mi deh home so we noh know how di house get burn down. We ask our neighbors and dehn seh dehn neva si nothing.  We stay with only di clothes weh we have on. My mommy, she get sick because half ah her body mi gone sleep and she mi can’t talk good Saturday night and we mi ker ah out so fi buy wah pills fi she. We noh know weh fi do now.”

michael middleton

Michael Middleton, Operations Officer, National Fire Service

“On Saturday at eleven-o-five p.m. we received a call of a fire in Lords Bank Village on Oldwell Road. We responded but on arrival the two storey wooden structure was found completely destroyed by fire. This house was owned by one Miss Maria, forty-eight years old; occupied by herself and her six children.”

Rodriguez says they are convinced that it’s a case of arson, but the Operations Office for the National Fire Service says that’s yet to be confirmed.

Claudia Rodriguez

Claudia Rodriguez

“We noh have electricity back yah and like twelve o’clock I gone dah Belize and nobody mi stay home. I neva lef on nothing.”

Delahnie Bain

“So you think that someone might have done this on purpose?”

Claudia Rodriguez

“Yes, because wah neighbor weh live back so, he tell we dat di fire start from di step to upstairs. Ih mi look like dehn put gasoline pan it because the fire just run one time whole ah di house.”

Michael Middleton

“The cause of the fire at this moment is still undetermined and the Fire Department continues the investigations of that fire.”

Delahnie Bain

“Because they don’t have any electricity and because they left home during the day so no candles were lit, they are suspecting its arson. Did you find anything to indicate that?”

Michael Middleton

“No, we haven’t find anything so far. We are still in the process of asking questions to people in the neighborhood.”

While they wait on the results of the investigations, Rodriguez says they suspect  the culprits are a group of youths that have broken into several homes in the area.

Claudia Rodriguez

“Dehn lee bwai from back so dehn come pan horse and we think dah dehn because di last time my ma ketch dehn inna di house, my ma chase dehn round all ah dis yard and dehn tell my ma watch weh wah happen to your house. Dah right so dehn tell my ma so dehn threaten ah. So we mi di think about dehn.”

Meanwhile, a neighbor has given the family temporary shelter. Delahnie Bain for News Five.

Rodriguez says her mother had to accompany her younger siblings to school this morning to explain why they were without uniforms or books.