Four stores were destroyed by a fire in the Free Zone on Saturday night. The fast moving fire ripped through the Belama Plaza taking with it US0,000 in merchandise. It was an alert security guard who upon seeing smoke coming from the curtains of the Belama Plaza at 8:25 on Saturday night alerted the Corozal Fire Department as well as the Fire Department across the border in Chetumal. Fire engines were deployed and by 8:50 they were on the scene.Â
Amidst the huge plumes of billowing black smoke, there was a frantic scramble to prevent the fire from spreading to adjoining stores. It was a tough effort since the stores contained mostly merchandise such as clothes which were stacked and stored in boxes. By 10:30 they had succeeded to have the fire under control. But the damage had already been done to four stores; namely Krisjan International Company Limited, A1 Imports Limited, Tresbudhas International Limited, and Tiyush International Limited. An assessment conducted on Saturday, certified the loss from the fire for all four stores to amount to approximately US$650,000.Â
The Chief Executive Officer of the Corozal Free Zone Raul Rosado says there was an unexpected complication on Sunday at 1 pm when damaged merchandise in one of the affected stores reignited. The fire response from both the Corozal Fire Department and their counterparts in Chetumal were again mobilized. They managed to extinguish the fire by 4 pm.Â
The last fire in the Free Zone was May 31, 2009 when a fire engulfed the Macao Plaza and took with it six stores. The damage from that fire was expected to be in the regions of one million U.S. dollars.
