By Assan Bah & Aisha Jarju
Victims of a fire outbreak at Dippa Kunda, in the Kanifing Municipality, are calling for support from all and sundry to help them restart their businesses after fire ravaged almost all the goods in their houses.
The fire, according to them, was caused by an electric failure from a NAWEC electric pole and occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, 30th July 2024.
Pa Modou Mboob, the landlord of the affected compound, said the incident that occurred on Wednesday night around 2 am consumed a lot of valuable goods and cash.
“The incident occurred around 2 am in the early hours of Tuesday, 30 July 2024 when the electrical pole shocked the roof of the house. The electrical spark caught the meter and eventually burnt the entire line house,” he said.
According to him, they contacted the Fire and Rescue Service (GFRS) for assistance, but they first came to the scene with no water in their tanks and had to return and come back when the fire was almost extinguished by neighbours.
“We called the Fire Service, but they did not come with water. They went back because the tension was high and they were being insulted by those present at the scene for not having water in their tanks. They later returned to the scene with police escort, but they found out that the fire had already been quenched by neighbours,” he said.
When asked if they [GFRS] give any reason for not being able to put out the fire. He said: “They came and left without sharing a word with us, but they later returned. The fire started around 2 am and we struggled for almost throughout the night to get water, but thank God we were able to overpower the fire before the fire service returned around 5 to 6 am. But the place is still smoking.”
He said the fire was caused by an electrical failure and they have since been calling NAWEC to inform them about the unfortunate incident, but they could not get their response. “We are still calling NAWEC, but they are still not responding,” he said.
The dejected Mboob appealed for support for the victims to restart their businesses.
“We are appealing for support from all Gambians particularly from the government to restart our businesses because we have lost all our goods. All the victims are businessmen,” he said.
Mrs Ike Rachael, a victim whose husband allegedly lost many of his recently purchased stationery materials, told this medium that the fire started whilst they were sleeping and her husband woke her up to inform her that there was smoke in the house. She said her husband managed to open the door and turn off their meter.
“We tried to remove all our kids and phones out of the house before the fire started heating up. The fire consumed the other goods before we could remove them out of the house. I have lost everything including my passport, children’s books, and other important documents.
“My husband is a businessman who sells books and food items. He normally supplies books to different schools, but as we speak, he has lost everything including the food stuff he usually sells,” she explained.
“I normally work as a hairstyle designer. Most of my business partners are staying abroad and I have a lot of pending contracts. Some of my partners recently sent me materials and I started sewing some of them. But the inferno has consumed all the materials,” she said.
She is appealing for support from the government, non-governmental organizations and philanthropists so that she will resume work and maintain her customers.
“We need many things including money and clothes to get back to our feet,” he said.
Ebrima Saye, also a victim, narrated that they noticed smoke around 2 am, and said: “Before we know what was happening around us, the fire had already started consuming our materials and we ran outside to call for help. All our materials such as television sets, mobile phones, radio sets and beds with cash were burnt by the fire.”
He appealed for support by saying, “we are now worried because as we speak, we don’t have anywhere to sleep. We all know it is not easy to have a house during the rainy season. I am a businessman and my brothers are also doing business in different areas.”
Responding to the claims that the GFRS went to the place without water, Pateh Gibba, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the GFRS denied the claims and called them ‘incomprehensible.’
“The allegation that our people went to the incident without water in our tank is unfounded. It is completely incomprehensible because one cannot go and fight fire without water which is even a threat to the lives of the firefighters. We are professional firefighters, there has never been an instant where the fire tender goes without water,” he expounded.
PRO Gibba lamented the low capacity of their tanks and said the only way to increase their stay in such incidents is to have hydrants in all areas.
“The fire tender does not carry more than 2000 litres, sometimes it carries 1800 or 2000 litres which is relatively small and can be projected for only 2 to 3 minutes. What will make us spend more time in a fire scene is having hydrants close to the area. If we have hydrants close to the scene, we will not need any backup from any station. Unfortunately, we do not have hydrants here and this is posing a lot of problems in our work,” he clarified.
This medium also reached out to the National Water and Electricity Company to know if they had received any report on any electrical shock at the said place, but their PRO, Pierre Sylva, could not confirm receiving any information, saying he just got the information from Foroyaa and would find out from the department responsible. “I am just hearing it from you. I will find out from those responsible for transmission and installation,” he said.
