Fire damages popular Cap-Haïtien hotel and restaurant as residents blame delayed response

CAP-HAÏTIEN — Plux Hotel and Barik Restaurant, two popular establishments along The Boulevard in Cap-Haïtien, were partially destroyed by a fire Monday, prompting renewed public anger over Haiti’s chronically under-resourced emergency response system. 

The fire started around 1 p.m. on May 26, following what witnesses described as a loud explosion. Guests at Plux Hotel rushed to pack their belongings and evacuate, while workers at Barik Restaurant, which was undergoing repairs, also fled the scene. Fire department officials and bystanders told The Haitian Times that no injuries or deaths were reported.

Witnesses said firefighters arrived nearly an hour later—despite the fire station being just about a five-minute drive away.

“I asked God to stop the fire from spreading,” said Eric Robert, the gatekeeper at Barik Restaurant. “But unfortunately, it did. If firefighters came to stop the fire on the other side, it would not have come here.”

Haiti’s public services are strained by political instability, economic collapse, and years of state neglect. Emergency response systems, including firefighting, remain dangerously under-equipped. Cap-Haïtien’s fire department, like those in other major cities—long hindered by a lack of resources, funding and training—often struggles to respond to crises in real time. The blaze at Plux Hotel and Barik Restaurant is the latest in a series of preventable disasters that underscore Haiti’s inability to combat negligence or manage emergencies effectively.

Residents said that when firefighters eventually arrived, they had little water or working equipment and were unable to fully extinguish the flames before leaving the scene.

“Us firefighters—we’re always ready. But no one is leading us,” said Azemar Jackenson, deputy chief of Cap-Haïtien’s fire department. “We have no resources, no material. We’re asking the state to get us out of this.”

In the absence of a timely emergency response, nearby residents and bystanders stepped in. Some formed a human chain, filling buckets with seawater from the North Atlantic Ocean just across the street in a desperate attempt to contain the flames.

According to multiple witnesses, the fire may have originated from a gas tank inside Barik Restaurant. An explosion reportedly shattered nearby solar panels and sent glass flying. Inside, walls and flooring near the suspected origin point were blackened, with debris scattered across the floor. The dining area was completely destroyed, although the rear of the building sustained less damage. The upper level of Plux Hotel also suffered significant fire damage.

Neither establishment’s management was available for comment.

The incident rekindled memories of a similar spree of fires that plagued Cap-Haïtien in 2022. Among the casualties then was the Sublime restaurant, a colonial-era building—both gutted after slow firefighter response times.

“We don’t have a fire department that can quickly come to rescue us if there’s a fire,” said Fredlyn Vilvert, a local activist. “We’re asking the central government to take responsibility and equip the firefighters.”

Residents now worry the latest fire may signal a return to that period of destruction—particularly with Cap-Haïtien’s fire brigade still unequipped to handle emergencies.

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