RAGING fire engulfed a segment of Sabasaba Market in Dodoma’s City Centre, razing to the ground at least 24 petty traders’ shops. Properties worth millions of shillings were also lost.Eyewitnesses said the petty traders’ stores caught fire at about 7am, destroying food stalls, salons, mobile phone stores and shops selling cosmetics and clothes.
Dodoma City Fire and Rescue Unit Assistant Commissioner Gilbert Mvungi confirmed the incident. He said his unit was alerted over the fire accident at about 6.48am, but the unit couldn’t release a fire truck as at the time it was in operation at the region’s airport.
The distance from Sabasaba Market to the fire offices is about 400 metres and from the airport to the market is less than 2km.“We received the information earlier, but we had to wait the aircraft to take off. We left the airport at about 7.33am,” he said.
Reports from the rescue unit have it that the unit had at least two standby fire engines. Other than the one at the airport the other truck was stack at Kisasa-Mwangaza suburb, about 7km from the city due to the ongoing rain.
The fire accident that left at least over 100 shops safe explains how the fire and rescue unit has limited facilities in the country’s capital city.Mr Mvungi said the unit’s efforts, however, helped to rescue 26 stores that had caught fire.
“The other challenge is that the construction of the stores didn’t take into account fire incidents as structures here are poorly constructed and this makes it harder for the unit to be effective in fire fighting,” he said.
