BY: Aminata Sameena Sesay
A fire outbreak which occurred at Kingtom in the West of Freetown near a dumpsite at 7pm on the 5th November, 2022, has left some 30 families homeless.
Speaking to Politico, a distraught-looking mechanic named Abu Mansaray said eleven vehicles brought to his garage by customers for servicing were all burned.
He quoted a colleague as saying the fire was caused after a female resident locked her lit stove in her room and went away. He said they noticed thick smoke coming out of the room, and made desperate efforts to stop the ensuing fire from spreading to other apartments but had to struggle against heavy winds that evening.
Mansaray stated that they are all devastated as the blaze destroyed belongings as well as all the tools used for working on vehicles at the garage. He noted that the incident has been a serious setback to them, given the current state of the country’s economy saying securing a job involves the ‘’the Grace of God’’.
He further stated that most of the vehicles that got burned were owned by the customers who he hoped will show understanding and refrain from asking them to pay for damage.
Another affected resident, John Koroma said even though the youths tried their best to put out the fire, they couldn’t. He further emphasized that many of them are homeless right now and that such was the intensity of the inferno they couldn’t even recognize where their apartments stood before.
He praised the Fire Department for responding to the emergency call and for trying the best they could to stop the fire, but to no avail.
Politico couldn’t find most of the affected families and the few that were around the site were too traumatised to talk.
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