Fire guts warehouse

The dry spell that has caused forest fires in the Mountain Pine Ridge area in Cayo has also been the source of many fires throughout the country. In the Belize District, a bush fire got out of hand and gutted a building in Ladyville. The structure was a warehouse and no one was injured. But the National Fire Service says that an unkempt yard may have also played a role in the spread of the fire to the building.

Michael Middleton, Operations Officer, National Fire Service

“This morning at 8:50, we received a call about a bush fire in Ladyville behind El Cas. We responded but on our arrival, the bush fire had turned into a structural fire. The bush fire spread and it consumed a warehouse belonging to the Marin family. The warehouse was a completely destroyed and a boat that was nearby received some partial damage.”

Jose Sanchez

Michael Middleton

“Any estimated value of the loss?”

Michael Middleton

“The estimated value of the loss according to the family is about fifty thousand dollars.”

Jose Sanchez

“The yard itself seems to have a lot of dry grass around it, could that have contributed to it?”

Michael Middleton

“Definitely that is a major contribution to the loss of this warehouse. That is what I want to recommend to the people living out in the rural area; we at the national fire service we are asking that you kindly clean around your premises. We are in the peak of the dry season, we have a lot of bush fires around—we try to respond to each and every one of them, but unfortunately we cannot. Sometimes by the time we get there, the damage has already been done. So we recommend to everybody out there, to please keep around their surroundings clean.”