_{Photo: Malika and Zaylon August, deceased}

by Kristen Ku

BELIZE CITY, Tues. Apr. 30, 2024

A devastating house fire on Racoon Street in Belize City caused the tragic deaths of 18-year-old Malika August and her two-year-old toddler, Zaylon August, this past weekend.

While Zaylon passed away on the same night that the blaze ravaged the home—Friday, April 26—Malika succumbed to her burn injuries late Sunday evening in the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.

The fire, which began at around 9:25 p.m. on Friday, reportedly started when a curtain was ignited by fire from an unattended stove in the house, which had been left on. The house, described as an elevated bungalow with a single entrance and exit, was quickly engulfed in flames, making escape difficult and dangerous.

“It is alleged that the stove was left on for some unknown reason, and the wind caught a whiff of that open flame, using the curtain as an ignition source. So, you’re looking at an open flame and sitting next to that open flame was a butane tank. It was just a disaster waiting to happen,” said Kenneth Mortis, the Fire Station Supervisor in Belize City.

When outlining the types of burn injuries sustained by Malika and Zaylon, Mortis explained, “We gathered that from her sleeping position, she picked up her son and immediately ran through [the flames]. The fire ranges anywhere from 75 degrees to well over 1500 degrees Fahrenheit of heat. There is only so much the human flesh can sustain.”

Keana Kelly, Malika’s cousin, in an interview, expressed her disbelief and sorrow over the incident, stating, “I was at home Friday when the babysitter texted me and told me that she [Malika] got burnt up in a fire, she and her baby, but I didn’t know that it was a house fire. Me and Malika were close; she was my ride or die; we were everywhere together, and we told each other everything.”

Notably, a second adult, Michael Gill, was also said to have been living in the home, though there has been no indication so far that he was at home at the time of the fire.

The National Fire Service is reminding the public of the need to put in place key safety measures in their homes, including the designation of fire escape routes, and to ensure that open flames are not unattended.