On Sunday, January 24, 2021, at approximately 1:00 pm a fire broke out on the south side of the square. It appears to have started just west of the restaurant Punta Corcho behind some street-level gift shops that are locally owned. As the smoke poured out above the shops, the owners rushed to save the merchandise inside, pulling it out into the streets.
A small truck from the fire department arrived first and firefighters bravely climbed out onto the smoky palapas to fight the fire.
At about 1:25 pm the larger firetruck donated from Canada arrived on the scene. A hose was even run from the hydrant located in the nearby Chedraui store. The staff of Punta Corcha and the residents of the next-door apartment building fought the fire with whatever they had. They wielded buckets of water drawn from the rooftop tinacas (water tanks) and even ice cubes from the restaurant. The fire was put out around 1:35 pm. No injuries were reported.
This video, posted on Facebook by Miguel Angel Valladares Ibarra shows the hose running from Chedraui, not quite long enough to reach the source of the fire, but close enough perhaps to stop it from spreading.
Cause of the fire is under investigation.
One of the gift shops that was damaged by the fire is owned by a man named Tomas. He and his family have been running this store for at least 18 years. He is originally from Chemax, Yucatan and is married with 4 children. Many of the staff working at the store are all part of his family. They too are married with kids of their own. This tiny store supports several local families.
The fire comes at a time when many of the businesses in Puerto Morelos are struggling to survive. Normally at this time of year, the town would be experiencing 95% occupancy rates. This year, due to Covid, Puerto Morelos occupancy rates may be running as high as 20-30%. With this in mind, the fire comes at a very bad time for our little fishing village.
Update: Esto Es, a local news organization has some heartbreaking photos on their Facebook page. Lots of damage inside one of the shops.
Update Monday, Jan 25: I was able to confirm with the owner of the building this morning that nobody was injured and that the cause of the fire was electrical. The clauarado stickers were removed late this morning, which I assume means that the investigation is complete and repairs can commence.
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