7 News Belize

Bad Wiring Caused House To Burn Down
posted (March 12, 2015)
Tonight, a mother and her two daughters are unable to sleep at home in their Belize City house because a fire damaged it.

Single mother Deniesia (Denise -ia) Tillett had just recently put built the house, which she was renting out. This morning, she left for work as she does every day, and her daughters, aged 12 and 4, went to school. She didn't expect to receive a call midmorning that there was a fire in her yard.

7News arrived on the scene shortly after the firefighters put out the flames, and Daniel Ortiz has this report:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
After the fire was extinguished, fire investigators observed the rubble, asking questions of homeowner Deneisia Tillett and her friend. They were trying to piece together what started the blaze which destroyed part of the house and significantly damaged the main structure.

She could only look on, listen to they had to say, or give the answers they wanted, unable to fully process that her home had been significantly damaged.

Reporter
"Were you able to salvage anything?"

Deneisa Tilllett - Fire Victim
"No. I didn't get to save anything. Everything that I owned was inside that house."

Reporter
"Who lives in the house? No one was in there at the time right?"

Deneisa Tilllett - Fire Victim
"No. Only me two daughter and I lives in there."

Reporter
"And they are at school right now?"

Deneisa Tilllett - Fire Victim
"Yes ma'am."

Reporter
"Tell us as to the value of what you've lost?"

Deneisa Tilllett - Fire Victim
"I can't estimate that right now. All I know is that it's my stuff that I work hard for just went like that. This is the first time this ever happened to me, so I am still in shock."

Cellphone footage captured by a neighbor show the moments when they realized that her house was on fire.

Residents, and responding police officers tried to get into her house to try to save some of her belongings. After breaking the lock on the door, they managed to remove a few personal items.

On the other side of the house, fire fighters worked hard to put out the flames on the secondary structure which was ablaze only a few feet away.

It's a devastating blow for this single mother, and she shared what her fears were about the possible cause of the fire.

Deneisa Tilllett - Fire Victim
"I was praying that my daughter didn't leave on the iron, because she likes to do it sometime, but I just hope it's not the case this time."

Reporter
"I understand that you leave very early and then they stay behind."

Deneisa Tilllett - Fire Victim
"Yes. I don't know what to say. All I know is that when I leave in the morning, I always tell her that at 7:30, she should walk down the street and go to the babysitter and wait until it's time to go to school, because I have to go an catch the 7am bus to go to work and I don't have anybody else to help me."

And so, she doesn't know where she and her 2 daughters will be sleeping tonight.

Deneisa Tilllett - Fire Victim
"I haven't even think about that yet. All I know is there is where I call home."

So, what actually caused the fire? Well, we spoke with the Fire Department this afternoon, and they told us that an overloaded extension wire from the main house, which was feeding electricity to the secondary structure, lit the devastating blaze. Here's how the Station Manager explained it:

Orin Smith - Station Officer, National Fire Service
"The investigation revealed that the fire originated on the north-west section of the plywood structure. The fire was the result of an overload of an electrical cord. The structure, from the rear was being fed via an electrical cord from the structure on the north-east section of the property. The structure the feed came from legally had electrical current. It was just supporting the structure at the rear via an extension cord, which for safety reasons should have been plugged out when all occupants have left the house."

If you would like to help the Tillett family, they can be reached at telephone numbers 632-0970 or 620-4717.

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