Reports reaching this paper from the Upper River Region have revealed that there have been series of fire outbreaks in different communities in the region.
According to Mawdo Amadou Jallow, the regional disaster coordinator, less than 10 days in 2012 alone there have been six different fire incidents in different villages in the region.
The villages included Sabi in Fulladou East, Sara Nyaba in Wuli West, and Kulukulel, Keneba and Dingiri all in the Tumana District. Jallow said the incidents this year are unprecedented and a cause for concern for his office.
He blamed some of these incidents on what he refers to as negligence, saying the government cannot continue to respond to such cases as it has other compelling commitments.
“For the case of Sare Nyaba, the village itself was dirty,” he lamented while calling for attitudinal change.
The regional disaster coordinator added that these incidents have affected 15 households and 116 people. “This is alarming and unprecedented, and the communities must be very vigilant because a responsible behaviour can save lives,” he remarked.
“It is too cold right now in the country, especially at the rural areas, and people do set fire to warm up themselves but after using it, some times they don’t put it off or they leave it unattended to and when the wind comes it blows the fire wild and far, which get houses engulfed and burned down.”
Meanwhile, this paper has learnt that in all these incidents valuable items such as clothing, foodstuffs, and household materials were destroyed.
