By Nasratu Kargbo
A fire incident on Thursday 26 August 2021 25 Grancess Street, Kroo Town Road in Freetown has destroyed several apartments and left dozens of people homeless. The distraught persons have called on the government and other humanitarian organisations to come to their aid.
Speaking to Politico, one of the landlords Rhoda Edwin said they were thankful that no life was lost in the disaster; though they lost everything they had worked for over the years.
She spoke about the difficulties they now face especially when things are generally so difficult these days, and believed the fire has further worsened their situation.
Madam Edwin said she was downstairs with her relatives, tenants and some guests when her niece went upstairs and noticed that the place was on fire and alerted them.
Though she could not tell the exact cause of the fire, she however suspected electrical problems as she claimed to have seen fire travelling through the electric cables.
One of the people who lost her properties, Racheal Freeman said she was away from the house when a passerby alerted her of the incident and that by the time she arrived home, everything was ablaze. She said most of the tenants are business people who had gone out in the morning to do their businesses only to be called to such a devastating scene. A one storey building, together with other apartment buildings in the compound got burnt down completely by the time the Fire Engines arrived at the scene. She said the community youths played a great role to make sure the fire didn’t get to the other houses around, using water in the drainages and those from their neighbors, to stop the blaze from spreading. However, she said the Fire Force finally put out the fire.
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