Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
Hilina Alemu
29 December 2008
Early last week, a fire in Saris Gulet, a market place in Akaki-Kality District, behind Ries Engineering, severely destroyed more than four residences, 70 shops and properties worth over five million Br.
The fire, which broke out around midnight on Tuesday, December 23, 2008, has, however, not claimed any casualties.
Though the fire-fighters from different branches of the Fire and Emergency Service arrived at the scene within 25 minutes, the fire had already damaged most parts of the market place, according to eyewitnesses.
"The firefighters used seven fire trucks and two water tanks; and it took them two hours to save the remaining part of the market," an eyewitness told Fortune. "Luckily, there nobody died or was injured."
One of the fire trucks was from the Federal Police, while six were from the different branches of the Fire and Emergency Service. The remaining trucks were ordinary water tank trucks, according to Admassu Mamo, general manager of the Addis Abeba City Administration Fire and Emergency Service.
The fire department used 118,500 litres of water and more than 60 firefighters were deployed to control the fire. They did not use foam.
Tewdros Kebede, one of the business persons affected by the fire, started a small-scale business in the area six years ago.
With his house just across the street adjacent to the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia's Nefas Silk Branch, it was easy for him to see what happened at the market place in the middle of the night. He heard the siren of the fire trucks and went out only to witness his damaged shop. He used to sell women's clothing and shoes.
"I have lost 20,000 Br worth of goods," he said.
The accident has caused so much grief. There were people who even shed tears due to the loss.
"The entrance to the market is not suitable for small automobiles to make their way in and out, let alone fire trucks," Tewodros told Fortune. "They were only trying to stop it from one side which worsened the situation."
Like Tewodros, there are other business people who have lost all they have worked for over the years in the two-hour fire accident.
Saris Gulet is a traditional business centre for all kinds of goods ranging from vegetables to food items, from ready-made clothing to cultural dresses and household utensils. It has been there for the last 35 years.
Business people who lost properties from the accident formed a committee to come up with a clear estimation of the loss. The Akaki Kaliti District is working with the committee.
The committee has already written letters to businesses and customers in the area requesting assistance for those affected, by contributing money, according to Muluneh Workneh, chairperson of the committee, and a shop-owner who said he has lost about 52,000 Br.
About 98 fire accidents have been registered in Addis Abeba since July 2008 causing an estimated 7.5 million Br property damage, Kebede Legesse, Public Relations head at the Addis Abeba City Administration Fire and Emergency Service told Fortune.
The accidents claimed 44 causalities, which caused the loss of 18 lives and severe injury of 32. The service has used over 323 thousand litres of water and close to 284,000 litres of foam to put the 98 fire accidents under control.
In the operation to minimize casualities and property damages have been 1,200 fire fighters with 155 trucks and about 25 support trucks such as ambulances.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Addis Fortune. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
