by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Mar. 13, 2025

Three buses belonging to Central Transit caught on fire in the early hours of Sunday, March 9, while parked inside the company’s secured compound in Lords Bank Village, Belize District, while another was involved in a traffic accident several days before.

The traffic accident occurred early Friday morning, March 7, when the bus reportedly had a blow-out to one of its back-right tires while traveling to Belize City, shortly after 6:00 a.m.

Based on reports from daily commuters, which included school children, professionals, and other passengers, the bus driver was driving above the speed limit and they believed that is what caused the accident. While the accident was a life-threatening and scary experience for all, luckily no one suffered any major injuries, and all who were injured were discharged from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital shortly after receiving treatment.

In a strange coincidence just a couple days later, three buses from the same company caught on fire while parked at the company’s parking lot on Lords Bank Road.

A little before 1:30 a.m., Pedro Guzman, the security guard, was alerted when he heard a noise coming from the direction of one of the buses. Shortly afterwards he noticed flames coming from the front of one of the buses. Guzman tried to extinguish the flames but failed, and the fire spread to nearby buses.

ACP Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander for the Belize Police Department’s Eastern Division, indicated to reporters on Tuesday, March 11, that after the Fire Department concluded their investigation, they reported that there was no evidence of arson.

At the time of the incident, two of the buses were functional and insured under Third-Party Home Protector Insurance, while the other was out of service and was not covered. The estimated total value of the three buses was $53,000.