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We have amateur video of the fire from the very first minutes - right up to when they ran out of water. Here's the story:...

Jules Vasquez reporting
This was how the fire looked at 6:09 am - when police and fire crews just arrived - the building at #37 Handyside street was already engulfed.

By 6:12 AM the fire department was already in position - but the fire was already in free burn - and you could hear the embers splitting and crackling: within a few seconds - you could see the fire expanding - and the fireman pick up his hose.

From this side, the odds seem awesome - a fire in free burn - and the single hose, the single fireman putting up a mighty fight: but at least it was a fight - as the fireman braved incredible heat to go up the stairs to fight4 the flame directly until he could take it no more and retreated down the stairs:

By 6:20 am - it was clear the fire was winning out as flames streamed out of the verandah area. And there you can see in the bottom of the frame - the water petering out….And there it is: a raging fire and no water to put it out:

Insp. Fitzroy Yearwood, Precinct Three
"When the water ran out, the fire spread over to the upper flat of Fender's Bar and the upper flat of the pawn shop "Handy Loans Pawn Shop." We made all efforts to contact all people in the higher authorities to try to get more fire trucks on the scene. Mr. Smith arrived on the scene about half hour to forty five minutes later and I don't know what kind of magic he worked out, but we ended up having water on the scene. At this time Fender's Bar was completely under fire and the other houses behind Fender's - the roof was already on fire also."

Ted Smith, Fire Chief
"On arrival it wasn't a small fire. On arrive the entire wooden structure next to Fender's was already engulfed in flames."

Alberto Carpio, Resident - Fender's
"They could have at least worked on mine, but they were too slow. The truck had no water and they took almost an hour and forty five minutes to get the water going through. So my place got engulfed in fire."

Orin Smith, Station Mgr. Belize National Fire Service
"Efforts were made to contain the fire from spreading structures. Eventually the two trucks had exhaust their water supply. Efforts to draft water from a nearby creek on Daly Street failed when the trucks both units experienced mechanical problems. A third unit had to be call in on scene. There was a time lapse on the scene where no firefighting was being done as the changeover was being made."

Insp. Fitzroy Yearwood, Precinct Three
"Also I kept telling them that we need to wet Fender's roof because I saw where the fire was coming over. By that time both trucks ran out of water."

Reporter
"Hence the reason why they weren't able to saved Fender's?"

Insp. Fitzroy Yearwood, Precinct Three
"Yeah. The fire then spread and it also spread on the other side to the roof for the building where the pawn shop is on the lower flat and a wooden residence behind Fender's Bar also."

Orin Smith, Station Mgr. Belize National Fire Service
"As a result of the time lapse we had 4 structures receiving fire damages."

Four structures and everything the residents owned.

Reporter
"Everything has been lost upstairs?"

Alberto Carpio, Resident - Fender's
"Everything."

Reporter
"You weren't able to save anything?"

Alberto Carpio, Resident - Fender's
"Nothing. I had no shirt on. A neighbor brought this shirt for me."

So, is the fire department to blame?

Jules Vasquez
"Is it the fault of the Fire Department that a fair small fire in a small building turned into a multi-building fire?"

Orin Smith, Station Mgr. Belize National Fire Service
"You have a vehicle Mr. Jules. When that vehicle comes up with a mechanical fault, do you blame yourself for the mechanical fault?"

Jules Vasquez
"Usually if my vehicle has a mechanical fault it won't cost the loss of valuable irreplaceable property and real estate."

Orin Smith, Station Mgr. Belize National Fire Service
"That is not the question I asked."

Jules Vasquez
"Yes, but I am saying that at some point you all have an obligation, regrettably, we all have onerous obligation, but an obligation to make sure that your equipment and your personnel is functioning if not perfectly, at least with a redundancy that compensates for any failings."

Orin Smith, Station Mgr. Belize National Fire Service
"We do our very best to keep our vehicles running in operational shape. But these vehicles aren't exactly recent vehicles."

Ted Smith, Fire Chief
"These trucks have a certain age. Both of them are over 15 years old. What we are doing now is investigating, conducting an internal investigation to establish why those trucks malfunction."

Jules Vasquez
"But if everything was working as it should have, could that fire have been contained to that single building?"

Ted Smith, Fire Chief
"It is our expectation to perform to a hundred percent every time we go out and we would love our engine to perform to a hundred percent every time we go out. But overtime everything aged. Even with these two unites functioning at a hundred and fifty percent, the magnitude of that fire and the exposure that was exposed, we would still not be able to hold it to that specific building that was on fire. That building was a two story wooden structure that was fully developed in flames. The magnitude of that heat was tremendous."

So there was no hope to save Nu-Fenders or to spare these folks from water damage or spare Alberto Carpio his loss:

Ted Smith, Fire Chief
"We would have hoped to always perform much better. That is who we are."

The only upside in this bad situation is that it's politics time - and the candidates for Fort George seemed eager to help.

The fire started in the lower flat at the south end of the wooden structure - but police and fire authorities have been unable to find the tenant. They do not know what started the fire.

In the early 1980's - the corner of Handyside and Queen Street - right next to where Fenders is now - was the scene of a famous fire that burnt down the income tax building.