Woman and Toddler Injured in Belize City House Fire

A woman and a toddler are hospitalized after they were injured in a house fire this morning in Belize City. Around 9 o’clock, a fire broke out at an elevated wooden and zinc bungalow home on Raccoon Street. The blaze quickly spread and awoke a woman, who was sleeping inside with her toddler. Fortunately, the pair were able to escape the burning building but received various burns on their body in the process. The woman and child were then taken to the hospital for medical treatment. It is yet to be determined what caused the fire, but fire officials were able to extinguish the flames, leaving only portions of the house’s shell. According to residents, the two had been staying at the home for several months with the homeowner, 48-year-old Michael ‘Bibby’ Gill. Our newsroom spoke to Marsha Dawson, one of the first people on the scene, about the ordeal. 

Marsha Neal, Resident: “I got up, I was doing some washing and I looked through the window because I heard something like a gunshot so I looked through the window but I didn’t see anything. So I peeped across to my neighbor’s house I looked and saw smoke coming through the front door. So after that I hailed my husband and I told him Bibi house is on fire. So by the time we left from my room, reached to the front door we saw fire coming out of the front door. So my husband told me to get a bucket so he got a bucket and filled it with water and me and him ran over here and when we came the young lady was crying and saying her son was upstairs. When we came two of them got badly burned. I called the police to tell them to assist me in calling the fire truck so they said everything is on the way. You know they didn’t take too long they reached in reasonable time. The police took the young lady to the hospital.”

Vejea Alvarez, Love News: What kind of injuries did the young lady receive ? Her and the toddler ? 

Marsha Neal, Resident: “Some bad burns that I saw on her entire body, face, her foot, her hands, her chest.”

Vejea Alvarez, Love News: I know she was disoriented but did she say what may have caused the fire or where it may have started ? 

Marsha Neal, Resident: “No she was in shock because when I came all she did was stand up just watching me not saying anything. She lost everything. Everything, nothing was saved.”

Gill has resided at the location for several decades.