There was some excitement in the city this afternoon when a fire started at the BELFOAM factory at mile 2 on the Western Highway.
Monica Bodden got there before the fire truck and she has this report:..
Monica Bodden reporting
A thick cloud of putrid black smoke blanketed the skies above the western part of Belize City this afternoon.
And though it was a huge mushroomed cloud, it really came from a small room - called the chemical mixing room at the Belfoam Factory.
When we arrived on the scene just after 4 this evening - the entire concrete building was engulfed in flames.
The thick plume of smoke attracted a huge crowd of onlookers.
But they were only briefly entertained; it took fire fighters only minutes to bring the fire under control and extinguish the blaze.
The building was used as a storage facility for chemicals which are used to create foams.
At the time the fire started - 3 employees where inside.
Francis Thomas - National Fire Chief
"We receive a fire call for a fire here at the foam factory at about 15:34. As you notice we had a fire at the chemical house there where they make the foam. From our preliminary sighting it appears that it has passed through a chemical reaction that went out of hand."
"The investigation later definitely will confirm as to what actually caused this fire."
Marion Ali, reporter
"What was stored inside?"
Francis Thomas - National Fire Chief
"Chemicals - this is the chemicals that they use to make foam. There were 3 workers that were in the facility at the time that were mixing the chemical and working on the production of the foam."
According to the Fire Chief, this evening's fire could have been much more dangerous.
Francis Thomas - National Fire Chief
"In terms of breathing - just by going besides the building you could sense the stinging feeling on your throat. It's definitely hazardous. Due to the good performance of our fire fighters they were able to extinguish it pretty quickly before it gets out of hand."
And this is the second time that the chemical mixing room at the Belfoam factory has been destroyed by fire. The first happened in August of 2009.
Francis Thomas - National Fire Chief
"I understand that there was a fire here a few years ago, I am not sure as to the status of that fire, I am not sure if it's similar to this one today."
According to our records - that very same room at BELFOAM caught on fire in 2009 - and there was also a massive smoky blaze back then.
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