San Pedro resident David Nunez remains hospitalized at the KHMH for third degree burns he received after he tried to save his wife, his son, his daughter and his niece who all perished in a fire at their home in the Escalante Subdivision of the island town.
The victims have been identified by their neighbors as 30 year-old Clara Bacab – others said that her name is “Clara Nunez” – her 6 year-old daughter, Natasha Mia Nunez; her 14 year-old son, Allan Nunez; and her 15 year-old niece, Sherlett Bacab. Others have identified her as “Shirley Bacab”.
It happened at just before 3 a.m. on Tuesday, June 12, in “Escalante”, which is about 3 or 4 miles south of the main downtown area. The Nunez family home, which was upstairs of a two storey building; another house on the left; as well as another to the right, were all in close proximity, and they caught fire in that early morning blaze. 2 of the buildings were completely destroyed, while the other received fire damage.
Investigators from the Police Department and the National Fire Service are currently investigating how this incident happened, and so, they have not released any official details about the fire. Piecing together what happened, the press was informed by the neighbors of the Nunez family that David Nunez’s son, Allan Nunez, was awoken by what sounded like an explosion outside. He immediately alerted his dad, but by that time, their house was almost fully engulfed in flame. David Nunez reportedly broke open one of their windows, and that was how he was able to get his other son, 16 year-old Samir Nunez, out of the burning building. Samir reportedly had to jump out the window from the upper flat, to get to safety.
Disregarding his own safety to try and save the rest of his family, David Nunez tried to rescue those left behind, and in the process he suffered from severe burn injuries and smoke inhalation. Realizing that there was nothing else that he could do, he reportedly jumped out of the same window. He had to be airlifted from the island along with his son, Samir, and they are both receiving medical treatment at the KHMH.
Compassionate members of the Belizean society are most concerned about the terrible ordeal that the remaining 4 suffered. About 8 or so hours later, the officials found the charred remains of Clara Nunez, and those of her daughter, her son, and her niece all in one pile in a far corner of the room where they died. Those closest to the case believe this to mean that Clara Nunez tried her best to protect the children, choosing to use her own body as a shield to protect them for as long as she could.
Residents of San Pedro, who have always had a strong community spirit, are grieving their tragic loss, and both they and the different Government agencies are trying to mitigate the hurt and pain that this family is going through.
The San Pedro Town Council, NEMO, and the San Pedro Branch of the Belize Red Cross sent out a joint press release on Tuesday, to inform the nation of their response to the incident.
The release says, “Through the San Pedro Town Council, UNICEF will be providing psychosocial support to the affected families and the same support will also be given to students from the San Pedro R. C. School and the San Pedro High School for their tragic loss of members of their school community as an initial response. After necessary assessments have taken place, the San Pedro Town Council will conduct an immediate clean up of the affected area.
NEMO will ensure that persons directly affected by the fire have access to immediate needs, including housing, while the Food Bank at Hope Haven is providing food.
The Belize Red Cross – San Pedro Branch will be hosting a radiothon and dollar drive on Friday, June 15, 2018 from 7:00 a.m. We encourage the community’s participation in these activities to ensure that these families can recover from this severe loss.”
On Tuesday night, the faculty and students at the San Pedro High School held a candlelight vigil to remember those of the Nunez-Bacab family who lost their lives in this fire, including their student, Allan Nunez.
This most recent fire is one of the deadliest in Belize’s recent history. Other fires that claimed multiple lives were on February 19th, 2001 when 7 children were burnt to death in a mobile home at 253 Signa Yorke Street in Belama Phase two. At the time 13 year old Leticia; Maria 10; Marika 8; Christina 6; Keisha 4; Loretta 2 and 9 month old baby Anastacio Vasquez all perished in the fire. Then there was the fire at the Youth Hostel which claimed the lives of three teenaged girls: Elizabeth Mckoy, Shadisha Arnold and Anna Carlos on November 28, 2015.
