News reached The San Pedro Sun office that there was a fire at Caye Caulker. Two houses were completely destroyed on the end of Park Street and Seaside and one structure received partial damage. Three families lost everything. Two persons have been detained. The San Pedro Sun is on the scene and we will have more details throughout the evening.
from San Pedro Sun blog

We got an arson over there?

Another one? It's only a few days since there was a bad one there. And I also heard recently about a severe arson attack on a business in Placencia, seemingly by competitors.

I could be wrong, but I was at the fire running around dumping peoples trash cans out so they could be used as water buckets,,seemed the smaller buckets were less productive...I only saw one house burn..another house was emptied of all its belongings but did not burn. Several hundred people were doing the bucket line..AGAIN...it seemed to be a losing fight..the house was ablaze..no fire dept...the pump and hoses showed up manned by a tourist and his wife..another hose on the side manned by local residents..they contained the fire..just at that time I saw the first official fireman on the scene..decked out in boots,fireproof body suit, hat, oxygen tank strapped to his back and gas mask,,and I wonder how long it took for them to get dressed..while the community once again had to risk their safety to put out a fire,,,and again the sad loss of property,and things that cant be replaced.,and of course after the fire was out I gathered up the trash cans put them back and put the trash back in them...with hundreds of buckets and cans everywhere I am not sure if I matched them up right!!!! Another tragic day...

No volunteer fire dept.???
Why not???????

In any case, aren't there just two members of the volunteer fire service there? The chances of a rapid and effective deployment with a core of just two seem to me most unlikely. In order to be able to deploy two people rapidly at any time, in my view you need at least six people to be trained and ready. If there aren't the funds to pay specialists then the local residents have to become more involved.

There are two professional government firefighters on staff...any others must be community volunteers.

Cooper you and the other villagers have done heroic things these past few months. No doubt everybody is stressed to the limits of their energy. You are going through the growing pains that San Pedro went through and continues to experience.

You have to be a strong community, count on yourselves a lot while exerting pressure on government to help. It is a tough struggle but you have to do it to keep your community together.

So, so sorry to hear this terrible news on the heels of last week's fire.

Thanks for being there and being able to help! God Bless.

We agree. I suggest maybe six volunteers need to be nominated and then suitably trained, so that they can be deployed maybe one official firefighter plus two or three volunteers. It is simply not possible for just two people to provide an adequate service 24/7.

From this video it seems that the Caye Caulker comes together as a strong community and becomes its own volunteer fire department.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z-YegWYzSY
It was so awful to watch this. My heart goes out to Caye Caulker and the families who lost their homes.
I just remembered that I had my first kiss in that house many many years ago