Ramsey N. Singbeh, Jr. — A fire that gutted a 9-bedroom house in New Kakata Community, Kakata, Margibi County, has rendered several residents homeless, including students, a pregnant woman, a taxi driver, and some petty traders.
The incident occurred on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at 10:00 A.M. when most of the house's occupants had gone about their normal daily routines.
In their absence, the fire burnt cash, car spare parts, traveling documents, school materials, business items, clothes, food, and other personal effects, but no life was lost.
The cause of the fire, which has yet to be established, left the entire community in disarray. Almost everyone wondered how it started as they made efforts to quench the flame but to no avail.
The rented house had sheltered more than 12 occupants.
Speaking to the NEW DAWN at the scene of the misfortune, one of the victims, Othello Gesuah, who is also a student, narrated that he surprisingly heard the pregnant woman scream: 'Fire ooo, fire ooo' from inside the house while sitting outside noting, at that moment the fire had almost engulfed the entire house.
Other residents in the community, he noted, went around to help, but the smoke could not enable them to enter into the house.
Student Gesuah lamented that nothing was taken out of the house, as most rooms were locked and the occupants were out.
He continued that there was no LEC or any source of electricity connected to the house, and no one had lit a fire in the house when the incident occurred. He lamented that they were homeless and had lost everything.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
He appealed to the government, philanthropists, and well-meaning Liberians to come to their aid to enable them to restart life.
Also narrating in complete disappointment, Taxi Driver Joseph Masay narrated that he and his family are now sleeping at a church along Bong Mines Road in Kakata while the rest of the other occupants are left with no alternative but to sleep in a single room provided by a neighbor, though there are many.
He continued that his car spare parts, money totaling 90,000 Liberian Dollars and US$1,000, and all other items were left in the fire.
Mr. Masay disclosed that he went out as early as 5:00 a.m. to run traffic but got a call that the house had been gutted. He detailed that the fire started from the side of the house, and he had rented three rooms in the house.
In his explanation, he recalled that his wife and some occupants had misunderstandings before and that neighbors were wrong according to what the community established, but the matter was resolved.
He observed that immediately the next day, fire gutted the house, starting from their room.
This paper also saw a box of matches right behind the house under the window of the room where the fire started.
He maintained that they would continue to sleep in the church until they could find a way out but called on the government and everyone to go to their aid. Editing by Jonathan Browne
