by William Ysaguirre (freelance writer)

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 24, 2025

The historic landmark Baptist Church on Queen Street was razed to the ground by fire at 4:30 a.m. on Friday, February 21.

Neighbors awoke to the smell of smoke and reported the fire at 4:30 a.m., but the National Fires Service says they did not get the call until 5:02 a.m., and by the time they responded, it was impossible for them to save any part of the structure which was completely ablaze. They busied themselves with controlling the blaze to prevent it from spreading to neighboring buildings, including the concrete Queen Street Baptist School building immediately adjacent in the same compound.

_{Queen Street Baptist church completely destroyed by fire}

While neighbors waited for the fire engines to arrive, they set up bucket brigades and wet down the walls of their structures to prevent the fire from spreading. Four fire engines responded to the fire, including two units from Ladyville, but they encountered the usual problems with water supply from a nearby hydrant in the Central Bank compound, and when they tried to tap an open source of water – the nearby canal on Eve Street, the pump malfunctioned.

Station officer Gladstone Bucknor of the Belize District Fire Service said they believe the cause of the fire to have been electrical, as there were the tell-tale marks of burns near the breaker box on the east side of the building. There had been a power outage at 3:00 a.m., so they speculated that the power surge when the power came back on may have caused a spark that started the fire.

_{Surviving concrete staircase after fire}

In the aftermath of the fire, Pastor Lloyd Stanford affirmed on Saturday afternoon that the Baptist Church is not a building, but the living, faithful congregation who plan to rebuild this place of worship, which held such a historic importance in the lives of early Belizeans in British Honduras two centuries ago.

The Baptist Church was established in British Honduras in 1822, and it was the second oldest church in Belize. It was there that the former slaves gathered to usher in Emancipation Day in 1838. William Wilberforce had advocated for the English Parliament to pass the Emancipation Act in 1833, but it took several years to take effect in the colonies, as the plantation owners wanted the Crown to pay them compensation for the loss of their slaves’ labor. Freedom from slavery finally came to Belize in 1838.

One early pastor, Reverend Cleghorn worked and served on many boards in Belize, including the Baron Bliss Fund and the Volunteer Guard. Rev. Cleghorn served as the Pastor in charge of the Baptist Mission from 1901, and also served on the Legislative Council in 1924. He served as Mayor of Belize City and had the honor of presenting the keys to Belize City to American aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh, when he landed his “Spirit of St. Louis” monoplane at Newtown Barracks in 1927.

Cleghorn was also one of the original founders of the Holy Saturday Cross Country bicycle race. He assisted many other pastors and ministers in taking over for them when they needed to go on leave. Cleghorn Street in Belize City was named after him.

Rev. Henderson of the Baptist Church recorded that on Emancipation Day, August 1, 1838, “the Liberated Christians desired to recognize the hand of God in their deliverance. At the quiet hour of midnight, the wide folding doors of Queen Street Baptist Church, our place of worship sent forth their blaze of illumination, and as the last particles were dropping from slavery’s glass, the victims of injustice sought the house of God, to render praise and to spend the first hour of freedom in His worship. Oh, it was a solemn season!

“A little before twelve, I went down and found the place filled with people and the greater proportion slaves. I laid my watch on the table, sitting down quietly till twelve, when I rose, telling them that slavery was no more with them. Then we all fell on our knees and afterwards rose to sing. Oh, what hearty singing!

“A member, lately a slave, prayed. Again we sang. Another prayed, and again we sang, and continued till after one. Gladness dwelt on every countenance.”

The church fathers had already been considering remodeling the structure, even before the fire, and the church committee met on Sunday to plan how they might access funds to begin the reconstruction of the church.