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Fortunately, it was only the storage unit that caught on fire, and it was contained by the quick and competent response of the Fire Department. Emanuel Pech has more details on the fire which started at around 7:00 in the morning.

Early on Saturday morning, the upstairs storage area for the Northern Fishermen Cooperative Society on North Front Street, Belize City, ignited into flames, casting a shroud of smoke over nearby residents. Today all that was left of the inside of the structure were the charred remains of the cardboard containers and wooden crates. That is what this storage unit was for. It housed the containers used for exporting sea products like fish, crabs, lobster and the like. Much was destroyed in the fire, but these cardboard containers were spared. A testament to the quick response of the fire-fighters.

Benisford Matura - Assistant Fire Chief
"Our response time was good, we reached their, I think within two to three minutes because it is not far from the fire station. When it comes to fire-fighting you have fire-fighting where the building is enclosed and you have a time when the fire is already on an open stage where you don't need to make an entry. In this case we had to make entry, we had to make forcible entry and it was more an internal fire-fighting so we had to use all our SCBA's to protect ourselves properly and make entry to locate the fire, confine it and extinguish it. In our fire-fighting techniques, we could not have open other windows and doors because it would have brought in oxygen to the fire and made it more extreme. So, what we had to do was cut a ventilation whole in the roof and vent out all the hot gasses and that's how we end up having total extinguishment."

Once the flames were extinguished, authorities launched an investigation to determine the cause and source of the fire. They have since ruled out a faulty electrical wire as the cause, which, given that no one was around at the time when the bodega caught fire, leaves far more questions than answers.

Benisford Matura - Assistant Fire Chief
"An investigation was done as to the cause of the fire or the origin. The electrical was ruled out, everything in that area was intact. The area where the fire started, there was no sign of an ignition source, however the fire started between a stack of empty boxes. So, our investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fire. We are presently leaning towards that it is some sort of an incendiary fire."

Reporter
"Have you guys reviewed the surveillance footage to see if anyone was there at the time?"

Benisford Matura
"The surveillance footage did not show the area where we assume the fire started. So the cameras cannot help us in that situation because it doesn't cover that area."

Reporter
"Did the coop indicate to you guys if there may have been a past employee or any other reason that someone may want to set the coop on fire?"

Benisford Matura
"No, they have not revealed that to us and I believe that is why we are still investigating what could have caused the fire. That is still in the process. So, we want to just wait and see what the investigators come up with."

In the meantime, the record time and efficiency that the fire department displayed over the weekend is commendable.

Phillip Willoughby - Operations Officer, NEMO
"The fashion in which the Fire Chief advised his team on the ground, the way he directed them to execute, up until the point that the fire was extinguished. I didn't see it happening the way it materialized on the ground if he wasn't there so, I have to take off my hat to the fire Chief in this regard. Job well done to him and his team."

Reporting for 7 news, Emanuel Pech

Police investigators agree with the Fire Department that there is no sign of arson. The building is insured.