By NOELA EBOB BISONG
Fire, fire! Not new in Cameroon, but its frequency and the degree of damages being recorded remains alarming and continues to raise unanswered questions.
A few incidents have been explained over the years, such as the Nsam, which occurred on February 14, 1998, when inhabitants of the area, in a bid to gain free fuel which dripped when a cargo train transporting fuel collided with a tanker loaded with gasoline at the Yaounde 3rd district of Nsam, got themselves into a nightmare hours later. The result was an explosive fire in which hundreds burnt to ashes, others dead while some who survived had severe injuries whose scars have remained to engrave the memory of the disaster to them and to all who see them.
On November 16, 2017, while Parliamentarians were in the budget session, an up-till-date un-explained fire pounced on the main parliament building in Yaoundé, ripped through four floors and badly damaged it. Though there was no human casualty and firefighters battled to put out the inferno before it could reach the debating chamber, however, opposition party’s offices (SDF) were destroyed. As well as destroying many irreplaceable records in the history of the nation, the interior of the building was seriously damaged and the central dome collapsed.
The fire outbreak at the Kumba District Hospital during the early hours of February 11, 2019, which reduced parts of the hospital to ashes and claimed the lives of at least four patients, remains aching. The fire broke out just minutes after 1.00A.M on Monday, ravaging sections of the hospital including the Male and Female surgical wards, the Nurses’ quarter as well as the Generator room. The dead who were patients are said to have been caught in the fire with their corpses later retrieved in the morning as some patients remained stranded. Also valuable properties were equally destroyed including at least three vehicles on the scene of the incident. Those responsible for the ungodly act, still to be known.
Again, on April 15, 2019 three offices of the Centre Regional Delegation of the Ministry of Public Works were ravaged to ashes by fire. According to sources, the fire started around midday in the office of the Chief of service for Construction and Socio-education, before it extended to two other offices. Reports also said that before the army rescue unit could arrive on the scene, the fire had consumed every single thing found in the three offices. The source of the fire remains unknown, but according to some officials of the Ministry of Public works, it could have been caused by an electrical circuit due to poor cable connections. Though no human loss was recorded, there was huge material damage worth millions of FCFA. Reports also have it that the fire incident was not the first recorded at the Centre Regional Delegation of the Ministry of Public works with such heavy material damage.
The fire spree in Cameroon has not left out the Markets, as top markets in the economic capital Douala (Mboppi, Central and Congo) have recorded grave fire incidents with colossal material losses. For instance, inhabitants of Douala were awaken by cracking sound and choking smoke from wild flames that ravaged the Congo market in Douala on the night of Saturday breaking Sunday, February 23 – 24 2019. Traders rescued little or nothing from their shops that had been reduced to ashes. Financial and material damage were estimated at hundreds of millions of CFA Francs. However, the cause is yet to be established. Barely two weeks after the Congo Market fire incident, at least ten shops were also burnt at the Douala Central market, following a fire outbreak on Sunday March 10, 2019. Local sources at the market explained that the fire was caused by a short circuit in one of the shops at the market which ravaged over ten shops before it was contained by elements of the fire fighting unit. Other cities like Limbe and Bamenda, have also recorded fire incidents on their main markets, with results of huge material losses.
May 31, 2019, Cameroon’s lone Oil Refinery, SONARA, records its worst fire incident ever. Following an explosion, the fire damaged completely four and partially three of its production units. While investigations are on to establish the exact cause of the fire incident, the fundamental cause is said to be as a result of a technical fault. Though no human life was lost, the damage is said to worth billions of FCFA.
Villages, houses and cars continue to be razed in the line of the ongoing armed conflict in Cameroon’s restive North West and South West regions.
The most recent however, is the fire incident at the Yaoundé Higher Military Academy (EMIA), where fire is said to have broke out in the dormitory of the aspirants of the 37th batch of the combined Services Military Academy, on Tuesday, June 18 2019.
Sources say the fire broke out at about 10 am, while the aspirants are currently out on a one month course. The fire is reported to have consumed almost the whole dormitory, leaving just the iron bars that supported the matrasses and two rooms. Though no human loss was recorded, the damages caused are huge.
Like many others, the cause of the fire remains unknown and as is always the case; investigations have been opened to determine the cause(s) of the fire. Point to note; the said investigations never bring results to the exact cause of fire incidents in Cameroon. In the absence of knowledge on the causes, many in the country continue to tie such incidents to mysticism and or deliberate acts. Where exactly the next fire incident will occur, no one knows!