BELIZE CITY, Fri. Aug. 2, 2019– Arturo Castillo Suazo, 35, is now homeless after a fire completely destroyed his timber house at about 8:30 last night at 7 Aloe Vera Street, in Lake Independence. The Belize City Fire Service put out the fire, and no other building around the burning house was damaged.
Fire investigators do not yet know the cause of the fire. The house and all its contents were destroyed, but the estimated loss to Suazo is not yet known.
Suazo told police that at about 8:00 last night, he secured his house and went out to do some errands. When he returned shortly after, his house was burning. No one was in the house at the time.
Neighbors said that they heard crackling sounds coming from the house, and shortly after they saw the house become engulfed in flames, and they called the National Fire Service. Also living in the house with Suazo was a relative of his, a fisherman who is away at sea.
This is the third house destroyed by fire at 7 Aloe Vera Street. The first two houses that were destroyed belonged to Caroline Hamilton, 34, and her family. Her first house was destroyed in May 2015, and after much struggle and perseverance, she and her common-law husband, Winston Gabourel, were able to rebuild a 20 x 20 timber house on the same lot, 7 Aloe Vera, and it was completed in July 2016.
Adjacent to her yard at the time was a two-flat timber house.
At about 8:30 on the night of October 4, 2016, Hamilton’s newly built second house which she had built and completed in July, was destroyed by fire, but this time 3 persons died. Her son, Aaron Gabourel, 11, was burnt to death. His remains were found in the debris by firemen, who were searching the debris during their investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Ian Sambula, 4, and his sister, Empress Hamilton, 8, Caroline’s niece and nephew, suffered second and third degree burns to their bodies and were rushed to the Shriners Burn Victims Hospital in the United States, but they died while being treated.
Caroline told us that the house was deliberately burnt by a man who came by boat across the Haulover River, threw gasoline in the house, lit it on fire and then fled in the boat.
Caroline said that she saw the man when he ran out of the house, but so far, police have not arrested him. Caroline told us that on that night, she was standing in front of the yard and was talking to someone, while her common-law husband, Winston Gabourel, Sr. was inside, and her sister Melissa Hamilton, 30, of 6 Aloe Vera Street, was also inside watching television with her three children — Jeremiah Hamilton, 11; Ian Sambula; and her daughter Empress Hamilton.
Aaron Gabourel was asleep in his bedroom.
Caroline said that a man who was wearing a cloth to cover his face, ran into the house through the front door with a plastic container containing gasoline, and quickly sprinkled the gas all over the hall. He then lit it and then ran out of the house.
The house began to burn, and the fire quickly raged out of control. As a result, Aaron Gabourel, who was disabled, died in the blaze.
Melissa Hamilton, Jeremiah Hamilton, and Winston Gabourel were all taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where they were declared to be in a stable condition, but Ian Sambula and Empress Hamilton were admitted in a critical condition. However Ian and Empress did not survive.
Police said that they were investigating the reported arson, but 3 years later, the suspect has not been found.
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams, who was then Commander of Southside police, said that two persons were detained in connection with the deaths and the fire, but the men were released due to insufficient evidence.
During the Monday police press brief held today at the Raccoon Street Police Station, ACP Alejandro Cowo, Commander of Crimes Investigation, said that the National Fire Service’s investigation led to the conclusion that the fire began in the kitchen, contrary to what was being reported. This was conveyed to Caroline, but she did not accept the findings.