“Overwhelming” is how Hortence Flores, 55, describes the support she has been receiving since watching her home destroyed in flames on Tuesday.
The Dangriga Fire Service arrived at #85 St. Vincent Street around 1:35 p.m., five minutes after being alerted about the fire. “I was just about to have lunch (upstairs) when a young man came to tell me my house was on fire,” said Flores as she watched her 18’ by 24’ two-story wooden home go up in flames. She added that fortunately no one was upstairs at the time, and no one was injured.
Allan Flores, 36, no relation to Hortence Flores, said that he was in a nearby yard with friends when they heard popping sounds.
“I wasn’t sure what it was, and then I saw the smoke; when I got in front of Ms. Hortence, everyone was sitting cool; they didn’t know what was going on.”
Neighbors and passers-by quickly assisted Flores and her mother to leave the building. Their assistance continued when fire personnel arrived and got the blaze under control by 1:45 p.m.
Hortence Flores said she suspected that the fire’s cause was electrical.
“It had to be electrical because I do all my cooking downstairs; I don’t even light a candle up there,” she said.
National Fire Service investigators from Belize City have since visited the site, but have not yet released their findings. While a few items were salvaged from downstairs, including a 100-pound butane gas tank, nothing could be saved from the upper flat that was home to Flores, her mother Cecilia Serano, 85, and her grand-daughter, Shanice Webster, 13. The lower flat that was used as a pastry shop suffered water damage.
Flores estimates her loss to be around $55,000, and her house was not insured. She currently stays in her aunt’s home next door and says that with community and family support, she will be able to move on.
She said that just this morning she received a donation of 1,000 cement blocks. Flores said she grew up on the property and was operating her small business there since 1987. Anyone who wishes to assist her can contact her through Sandra Garrett at 522-2711.