The
recent fire incident at Tabokoto has left the victims with nothing other than
the clothes they were wearing at the time of the disaster, the public relations
officer of Gambia Fire and Rescue Services has confirmed.
Inspector Ousman Drammeh said the fire outbreak on Sunday in the house of one Kadijatou Bah left the woman and her daughter, Jatou Jallow, with only the clothes they were wearing; all the cash, foodstuffs and other valuable household materials were burnt to ashes.
In an interview with The Point newspaper on Monday, PRO Drammeh said that during their investigation at the scene of the fire, the victim, Kadijatou – a market vendor – said she had cash amount of CFA40,000 and D50,000 in her house which were all burnt.
PRO Drammeh said the woman is now in dire need of help from individuals and institutions to let her start life again.
Andi-Churai is the cause
PRO Drammeh said the fire outbreak started at around 2am on Sunday.At the time of the fire outbreak, the house was empty as the occupant, Kadijatou Bah, and her daughter, Jatou Jallow, were at a Gamo.
Drammeh said:“The man who was next to Kaddijatou’s house heard noise and thought it was thieves; he decided to come out to see what was going on.He saw the flames and called for help.
“Neighbours were trying to put off the fire themselves but when they realised the fire was out of control they then rushed to wake another neighbour who is a fire officer.The fire officer then called Serekunda fire station for rescue; this was around at 3.55am.A team from the Serekunda fire station quickly went to the scene and they were able to successfully control the fire but it was too late to save anything in the house.”
According to fire service PRO, incense pot locally called andi-churai was the cause of the fire outbreak.
He said the general public should know that though andi-churai is a very important culture, it has caused serious damage to many households.
He said that if people have to use andi-churai, they should use the type that has cover and never place it under or near a bed or anything that can easily catch fire.
