Two Belize City families are homeless tonight after fire engulfed their two-story apartment complex. It happened just after 8:30 this morning at the corner of Plues Street and Rocky Road. The fire, which started in the downstairs portion, is believed to have been caused by an overloaded faulty surge protector to which several appliances were connected. Family members would not speak to us on camera but one said the fire spread too quickly to be contained. Tonight, Assistant Fire Chief Benisford Matura has a warning for families in similar situations.
Benisford Matura, Assist. Fire Chief
"The owner of the building was Mr. Floyd Robinson. It was basically an apartment structure where they had several tenants both upstairs and downstairs. The first floor you had Miss Ingrid Williams, Jahir Rivero, Kiani Sterling and Dejah Parham. The lower flat was Denise Tun, Brian Neal, Briana Neal and Shahira Neal. So basically 8 persons got affected by this fire."
Reporter
"We know that it might be preliminary, but have fire fighters been able to determine what may have caused that fire?"
Benisford Matura, Assist. Fire Chief
"People were around and eyewitness saw where the fire started from; it originated from the ground floor. Our investigators zeroed in on that area and we discovered that this fire was due to a faulty electrical system in the sense that they had a surge protector connected to an extension cord and the surge protector has like six holes. Every outlet on that hole was occupied and they had all their major appliances connected to that. So basically they overheated the surge protector which caused this fire."
Reporter
"At the time of the fire was anyone at home?"
Benisford Matura, Assist. Fire Chief
"No one was at home, just the occupants of the upstairs - Miss Williams was upstairs. My advice to people is that sometimes thing may be costly, but at the end of the day, you have to weigh out what's important, because you might end up losing everything you owned, just because you did use the right equipment. When it comes to electricity, you need to use the proper equipment so that you don't have these types of reoccurrence."
A total of 8 persons were affected. A second building in the yard was protected from serious damage. The building was not insured and damages run to the tens of thousands of dollars.
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