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We're a month into the 2025 fire season and the Belize District is gearing up for the wildfires that are to come. The Mahogany Heights community is one that is affected every year, and with no fire station close by, many residents have suffered. But through a combined effort from the villagers, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the UK Government through their Biodiverse Landscape Fund, Mahogany Heights is now equipped with a new water pump and 1,300 gallon tank. According to the WCS Country Director, it's a part of a larger project.
Nicole Auil Gomez, Country Director, WCS
"This project began two years ago and we have another 5, 6 years to go before closing. But really, its intention is to really have impact on the ground and the intention is to have the communities, in this case, the communities develop what would work for their benefit. So that's one of the unique natures, the long duration of the project and the collaborative nature because this project, across Belize we're working with Friends for Conservation Development, Belize Maya Forest Trust, Program for Belize and Julian Cho Society Maya Leaders Alliance so we're working across different forested areas within the Belize forest across the country."
Jermaine Sanchez, Chairman, Mahogany Heights Village Council
"Fires have been very prevalent in our community, as you know the dry season is now upon us. We have had instances in the past whereby residents have lost homes, all their belongings, their lifetime savings because of small fires. We know that the ability for the fire department to respond to us quickly, maybe my definition of quickly may be 10, 15 minutes, they're all the way in Belmopan, however, this bombera as I call it will assist our community in allowing us to help ourselves. The ability to have water when there's a small fire, it does not necessary have to mean a home. We have had forest fires, we have what we call bush fires, that has led into larger things, and that in itself gives us a sense of security we can at least hold over until the really firefighters are here."
"As I mentioned, I recalled on of the moments we had what I call the bucket brigade. The bucket brigade were residents who came with buckets whenever there was a fire and we would full buckets of water together, form a line, and yes that helps a bit however you know when it comes to a bucket, fatigue comes in, the ability to move the water to the exact location so when the community heard about this and actually the community was an integral part of this consultation. There were many ideas that came up such as for example, providing medicine or doing a cover over the basketball court because it all related to climate change and climate resilience. And then the lightbulb hit that, hey, we need something to protect us against fires."
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