As Belize enters the peak of its 2026 dry season, parched conditions and persistent high winds have created a landscape primed for out-of-control blazes across the nation. Local officials in San Pedro are now cracking down on two widespread, risky practices that have already sparked two destructive fires in recent weeks, threatening residential and commercial property across the coastal community.
The San Pedro Town Council, joined by Belize’s National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) Rural South Chapter, the local fire department, and police force, has issued a blunt public warning: all open burning, including garbage incineration and fire-based land clearing, is illegal under local regulations, and violators will face formal fines. The urgent alert follows back-to-back fire incidents that have underscored the severity of the current risk.
First, a blaze broke out at the popular local destination Secret Beach, spreading quickly through dry brush before crews could contain it. Just days later, a larger wildfire sparked by illegal land clearing traveled 5 to 6 miles from its origin to destroy an entire warehouse outside San Pedro. Andre Perez, chair of NEMO Belize Rural South, explained that a recent wave of land distribution to new homeowners has driven a surge in unregulated clearing activity. With no flood risk during the dry season, many new landowners are turning to burning as a quick, low-cost way to prepare plots for construction, without accounting for the extreme fire hazard the current conditions create.
“With the high winds right now and the extreme dry season that is what we are confronting right now, because it’s a lot of brush fires and that’s because of illegal and irresponsible burning to try to clear your lands,” Perez stated in an official briefing. He confirmed that ongoing investigations into the warehouse fire point directly to an escaped land-clearing fire as the cause, even though the blaze originated miles from the commercial structure.
Instead of open burning, officials are urging all San Pedro residents to use the city’s official Solid Waste Transfer Station for garbage disposal, and to seek permitted, controlled alternatives for land clearing. Authorities emphasized that even small, intentionally set fires can spiral into devastating infernos in the current dry, windy conditions, and that community cooperation is critical to preventing more damage through the remainder of the dry season. The message from all participating agencies is unambiguous: no unregulated open burning is worth the catastrophic risk it poses to the entire community this season.