7 News Belize

Gungulung House Fire Was Arson
posted (February 25, 2019)
Today's press briefing with Orin Smith gave us an opportunity to question him about several fires that made the news in the last 3 weeks.

You'll remember week Monday's blaze in the Gungulung Area of Belize City which left a family of 12 homeless. At around 1 a.m., Luwiena Garnett, her common-law husband, her children, her mother, and her grand children all woke up to their 2 homes off Holy Emmanuel Street burning. They were all very fortunate to escape unharmed, but they suspected that some malicious person intentionally set their homes ablaze.

Today, Orin Smith confirmed their suspicion, and he told us that the investigators have concluded that this fire could not have happened without human intervention:

Orin Smith - Station Officer, National Fire Service
"On Monday, the 18th of February, at 1:06 a.m., the National Fire Service received and responded to reports of a structural fire at #12 Holy Emmanuel Street address. On arrival at the scene, a 25 by 45 wooden structure elevated some 5 feet of the ground was seen fully engulfed in flames. An adjacent 16 by 16 wooden structure separated some 3 feet in between, was also seen fully engulfed in flames. When fire crew arrived, the front structure had already collapsed. Fire crew went into operation trying to contain the fire and later extinguished [it]. Investigation reveal that the family were all asleep when they were awakened by the strong smell of smoke. The alerted each other and evacuated the the structure. The evacuated family later explained that when they got up, there was fire within the structure. When they evacuated, they saw flames coming from under the structure, in the area of a storage room. Investigation revealed evidence of extensive burning on the support columns of the structure, within the central part of the building, the kitchen area. This was indicative of a fire that had developed, burned and extensively damaged at least 3 of 4 posts within the area. Other columns did not reveal any such evidence."

"Where the fire originated, there was no heat source that would have generated a fire under circumstances. For a fire to have originated where it did, there had to have been some human intervention. As a result, that fire is deemed incendiary."

Their investigation's findings will be handed over to police, and it is expected that they will commence a criminal investigation.

The family lost everything last week, and they are still in need of assistance, and they lost all modes of communication, including all their belongings in this fire. If you wish to provide them with some assistance, you can visit them at their shop, Miss L's Food, Fruits and Vegetables. It's the yellow shop located near the end of Holy Emmanuel Street.

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