Fire destroys six buildings in Placencia
The Placencia peninsula is one of the hottest tourist destinations in the country but shortly before midnight last night, residents were shocked to see flames rising above the coconut trees. News Five’s Jacqueline Godwin and cameraman Alex Ellis travelled south today and found a village living at the mercy of fire.
Glen Eiley, Chairman, Placencia Village
?In my estimation it?s actually the worse fire.?
Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
?Over what period of time??
Glen Eiley
?For my lifetime. I was born and raise here and I?ve never seen a fire like this.?
Authorities strongly suspect Sunday?s fire started from the lower flat of this two storey wooden house, located near the Placencia football field. Within hours, the blaze completely destroyed four businesses and two residential properties.
Leopold Leslie, Fire Victim
?It started in one of the room, I guess probably the back room and when it started from there we tried to out the first room. The one from the front but the fire from the back went all the way up, and when it went to the top floor then it went over from that roof to mines and from there we just couldn?t do anything more about it.?
Fuelled by the prevailing winds, the fire spread quickly and there was little residents could do to save most of their possessions. Leopold Leslie and Nazle Frutos only had time to save their dog Suity and a few personal items before their home was engulfed by flames.
Nazle Frutos, Fire Victim
?We managed to save one television, a computer and half bag of clothes.?
Almost eight hundred people call Placencia home but there is no fire service in the village. When the alarm sounded last night, it was left up to the villagers to battle the blaze. Placencia police sergeant Daniel Arzu says the people formed a bucket brigade and fought the flames for two hours. The fire started at approximately eleven thirty Sunday night. When the fire trucks finally arrived from Dangriga and Independence Village around two this morning, it was too late.
Sgt. Daniel Arzu, Placencia Police Station
?It could have been worse. There could have perhaps even more building down or causalities if you have to look at it that way.?
?It was a bucket brigade and there was not the adequate type of resources to get it out or to contain the fire. So it was a collective effort on behalf of the community and I am extremely grateful.?
Glen Eiley
?It was ironic because we had just put out a fire at the airstrip. Somebody did a slash and burn and it was a mess. It was like five, six hours. Turtle Inn had to throw there whole crowd in there, it?s crazy. The village is growing rapidly.?
Today fire investigators and the police returned to scene to conduct interviews and try to determine what caused the blaze. Unconfirmed reports suggest the fire may have started when a lit candle was left unattended. Leopold Leslie believes one of his relatives, a mental patient may be able to help investigators.
Leopold Leslie
?It could possibly be by a candle because I have a nephew that stays downstairs, and he is kinda mentally. And probably after the electricity was out, because we had a blackout, he probably lit a candle. It could have started from there or it could be he has a fan that he had in the backroom that was not really working too properly, and he said there was a spark with the fan, so it could be either one of them.?
Village Chairman Glen Eiley says late last year meetings were held with the Rotary Club of Belize to discuss establishing an appropriate fire response.
Glen Eiley
?When you look at the logistics of Placencia even a fire truck can?t get to large places. You will need to set this up properly. It would be fairly easy, what we are thinking is to run additional separate pipes for salt waters, putting pump stations in different areas and run hydrous through the village. That would be kind of a costly, but to me it is the most efficient way to get to some of the areas that a truck even if it goes up here couldn?t get back in an area.?
?The need for that building code and everything has to be implemented because some of this could have been avoided. Because in the code it calls for density, you can?t build up two tight all around your corners. So there are a lot of things that we are struggling with, and once those things are in order. Maybe the people building will think twice before they put back their houses the way they did, and so fort. To make it look nice, but also make sure you have free way.?
Eiley says once the investigation is completed they will start to remove the debris and possibly rebuild. The fire left at least ten people homeless. The businesses lost in the disaster are the Purple Space Monkey Restaurant and Bar, a jewellery shop, a pottery shop and the Peninsula Cable Vision Office.
Nazle Frutos
?So far the Village Council and the Rotary Club and everybody, we are having some meeting this afternoon. We are trying to get organize and see if we can raise some fund to get a new house or something. Other than that family members, friends, everybody is trying cooperate.?
If you would like to assist the Placencia Fire Victims please make donations to Scotia Bank account number 8831576. Jacqueline Godwin for News Five.
According to Belize Electricity Limited, last night’s fire resulted in a four hour power outage on the peninsula. In related news, B.E.L. has issued a statement on last night’s countrywide blackout. Apparently a fault on the Comision Federal de Electricidad transmission line at the Xulha substation in Mexico interrupted service to Belize for almost an hour. B.E.L. says it used power from Chalillo, Mollejon, the diesel generators and the mile eight gas turbines to return electricity to affected areas.
