Bagasse fire at BSI compound could have been worse, says Fire Department

By Benjamin Flowers: On Sunday, a pile of bagasse at the Belize Sugar Industries (BSI) compound in Orange Walk, caught fire, and personnel from the Belize National Fire Service Belize City branch had to be called in to assist the Orange Walk team in controlling the blaze.

Station Chief for the BNFS, Kenneth Mortis, said that the fire was believed to be a natural phenomenon but the quick response of BSI and the Orange Walk team from the BNFs kept the fire from spreading to neighboring buildings.

“That bagasse is a combustible substance by itself it only needs the introduction of fire and heat, and it apparently had reached its ignition point,” Mortis said. “Luckily we were only there for the superficial cause, which is just at the top of the bagasse itself, it had not penetrated deep down into the base.”

Mortis explained that the bagasse was in an area that was a minimum of 30 feet from the nearest structure which played into the responders’ favor in terms of keeping the situation contained, but if the fire had been more intense, it would have been a problem given the height of the bagasse pile.

Mortis said that it is not the first time that the BNFS had to extinguish a fire of that nature, but ultimately any changes in storage of the bagasse to avoid future fires is a decision that BSI will have to make.

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