One dies in Buea ravaging fire

A fire incident at Mile 16 Buea has left one man dead and damaged property estimated at over 22 million.

The fire that started in the midnight of Monday, January 12, is said to have also burnt several buildings to ashes.

Emmanuel Kweta’s charred remains were discovered in the morning when the flames receded.

According to Frida Asuba, an eyewitness, they heard loud shouts in the middle of the night and work up to see fire on part of their house.

“We were asleep when the fire started and for now, we can’t say what caused it. All my property was burnt by the fire. We did not take out anything from the house. You know that wooden houses burn fast,” she said.

She went on to add that “as we made frantic attempts to quench the fire, we did not know that my uncle had been trapped in the house. We only discovered his brunt body this morning and have put it in the mortuary.”

According to neighbours, the building that got burnt harboured a motorbike spare parts shop, a provision store, an off-licence, a grinding mill and living houses.

This is the third time in recent time that fire is burning houses at Mile 16. Buea hasn’t a fire fighting brigade. The lone firefighting unit in the South West Region belongs to the National Oil Refinery.

While many recommend the creation of a fire fighting brigade in the region, others say efforts should be made to ban the construction of wooden houses, since they are most prone to fire outbreaks.