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Markesha Thomas, Fire Victim
"I woke up this morning about 4:30 to feed the baby because she was fussing and I lit the candle then rubbed her down and after doing so I fell into a short dose and the candle fell behind the bed, and the fire started. When I got up and realized that the fire started, day was already stepping in, so my oldest daughter got up and said Mommy, Mommy, fire, so she just wake up her little sister and I opened the back door so they could run outside and when they ran outside, I just throw some stuff outside that I could probably save and by the time I could get back outside to them, the smoke already full the place, so I just went to the back window and that was my mistake when I pulled the window open cause all the fire just started to blaze and then the whole wall just fell down and that was it. (Reporter's question: "You are now homeless with your three children what have you done so far to try and get assistance?")…Markesha Thomas: "After the fire finished the Village Council Chairman came by and tried to render assistance with other members of the council and brought us to Belize and told us to go to the Fire Station and get the report of the fire. So we did so and he took us by the Human Services department saying they could render assistance in mainly clothing, food and stuff that would be necessary at this time, and when we got there, we were turning around all morning trying to get my sister's ID registered and got a JP signed it, and when we took it back there they told us that we should check back by the ending of the month for some assistance."

As if the fire destruction of her home was not stressful enough, Thomas says she spent the entire morning at the Human Services department seeking assistance for her and her three kids. According to her, after formally filling out an application, she was told that she would have to wait until at least the end of the month to receive any kind of assistance. Not so says Ava Pennell, the Director of Human Services. Pennell says there had to be miscommunication somewhere and she intends to find out where Thomas got such information.

Ava Pennell, Director Social Services Dept.
"Usually if you are appealing for an immediate assistance, you'd come to our office, and in the case of a fire, we would need some documentation from the fire department or from the Village Chairperson, that yes your house was burnt down, that you are the person, some form of identification to show that you were the person that was burnt out. Once we get that information, we do whats called an intake and information, you get an immediate assistance of a food package for a week and you usually get a referral to the Red Cross for immediate clothing. We also give a cash assistance to families and that is given usually to the head of household and the cash assistance usually varies based on the size of the family. The cash assistance usually needs a social security card to process that. If the social security card burnt also then we would ask that person to supply another person who they would trust to pick up that money for them. And that money is done, we process the payment and the approval is done in Belmopan and an approval is done by the Treasury Department. There are two levels of approval, so it would take a couple days for it to be approved and they can then pick up their check at the Treasury Department."

In the course of our investigation today, Seven News found out that there are other agencies willing to assist in this type of emergency. The Director of Red Cross, Lily Bowman says her agency offers limited help in the form of clothing, food items and hygiene packs. However, the victims of such tragedies are usually given a referral from the Human Services department. Operations Officer of NEMO Retired BDF Lieutenant Colonel Ramirez, says his agency also offers limited assistance, usually in the form of food and clothing.