Africa-Press – Liberia. A Fire incident at Chicken Soup Factory Junction in the Township of Gardnersville has left a businessman and scores of community residents shattered after the structure was brought down to ashes by the inferno.
The Fire razed the commercial building that hosted a huge merchandise store belonging to businessman Michael Okelee in the afternoon hours of Tuesday, destroying goods and other valuables reportedly worth US$200K.
The store, which was brought to the ground by the blaze, was dealing in car spare parts and other imported American goods. “This is a very huge loss as my uncle has just offloaded a container of goods this week,” a nephew of the victim, who could only identify himself as JD, said. “My uncle did not take anything from his store. He was in total shock when this thing happened.”
“This is a very huge business. Everyone in this neighborhood can attest to that. We can put his loss as a result of the fire incident to over US$200,000. This is an international business and most of the goods are imported from the USA.”
JD disclosed that the store burst into flames after electrical work that was being done went wrong. This is yet to be verified by a police investigative report. Officers of the LNP were however seen on the scene when this writer arrived there.
A totally distraught Okelee, popularly known in the community as Naana, could not say anything when approached for a few words
“We could save nothing from the store due to the severity of the fire,” Saah Nyuma, a resident who lives close by, told the Daily Observer. “We did all we could to put the fire under control but to no avail. It was too huge.”
A young man succeeds in bringing out a charred motorbike
The building was completely destroyed, but the flames were confined to that single structure by the help of youth who used water, sand, and gravel to contain the blazing fire from spilling over to other structures.
Eyewitnesses said officers assigned at the Stephen Tolbert Depot of the National Fire Service, which is a minute or two away from the scene of the fire incident, were unable to tame the fire due to logistical constraints.
“The fire service people immediately came from Stephen Tolbert when they were contacted but the water they came with was insufficient,” Mabel Kolubah, another eyewitness, said. “They did not even appear prepared when they came. Some came without boots and their firefighting uniform.”
Though traffic, bad roads, and lack of alleyways are major challenges to firefighters accessing communities, this could not be the case as the affected property is situated on the Japanese Freeway.
However, neighboring properties were not affected by the inferno as community youth and other residents succeeded in combating its spread. “We want to thank the young people because their efforts led to saving our community. This fire could have spread across our communities leading to massive destruction,” an elderly man.
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