On 2 October 2021, a large fire occurred in the town of El Cayo on a

cay A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great ...

named Bonacca which is part of an island named

Guanaja Guanaja is one of the Bay Islands of Honduras and is in the Caribbean. It is about off the north coast of Honduras, and from the island of Roatan. One of the cays off Guanaja, also called Guanaja or Bonacca or Low Cay (or just simply, The Ca ...

off the north coast of

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. The fire started around daybreak and spread quickly into businesses and homes. It forced hundreds of residents to evacuate and flee for safety. No-one was killed; four people were injured in the blaze and hospitalized. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Events

Start of the fire

The unexpected fire started around dawn and minutes after the blaze had sparked, it had already spread into structures, which were mostly made out of wood. During the blaze, people had raced into their homes to grab any of their belongings as quickly as possible and grab buckets full of water to keep the blaze from growing any further, although they struggled to bring it under control because they have no fire service on the island. Several videos of the fire show the inferno spreading quickly and people evacuating out the island by boat with all of their furniture and belongings.

Emergency response

Hours later, while the fire was still burning, the

Honduran Air Force The Honduras Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea Hondureña, sometimes abbreviated to FAH in English) is the air force of Honduras. As such it is the air power arm of the Honduras Armed Forces. History The first Honduras military flying took place ...

kept dropping water on the blaze to douse the flames. After the fire was under control, police helped people gather what's left of their possessions.

Humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

was provided for people mostly affected by the blaze that occurred during daybreak. Some shelters were put on the main island of Guanaja for residents who lost their homes.

Aftermath

As a result, the fire destroyed over 200 homes and businesses and damaged 120 more. More than 400 people were displaced because of the inferno. There were no deaths reported and there were only 4 injuries. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The fire was fully contained at around 11:00am ( CST) on 3 October 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guanaja fire, 2021 2021 disasters in North America 2021 in Honduras 2021 fires in North America Fires in Honduras October 2021 events in North America

Events

Start of the fire

Emergency response

Aftermath

See also

References