Traders in Fort Portal City are counting losses after a fire gutted several Kiosks in Kisenyi Cell, central division. The fire gutted merchandise, fridges, electronics, timber workshops, and motorcycle spare parts among other items.
According to eyewitnesses, electric sparks are believed to have been the cause of the fire that started at 11:40 pm from the furniture workshops, where heavy machines are operated.
The fire first gutted wooden structures before it spread to several makeshift houses.
Joseph Mpoza, one of the eyewitnesses, says he was at the neighboring Giraffe Pub when the fire started. According to Mpoza, he and other neighbors informed the police but arrived at the scene without water, living well-wishers to battle the huge fire using water from their jerrycans.
Monica Rosette, a resident says that the fire began when most of the traders had closed and they couldn’t do much to save our shops from being erased by the fire.
She faults police for arriving late at the fire scene, which deprived them of the available possibilities to rescue part of their property.
“We called lorry park police which is the nearest through the emergency lines, but all were not going through, and when the Fort portal central police station officers arrived their vehicle developed a mechanical breakdown as the fire escalated, maybe they would have saved some people’s properties. Rosette said”
The Deputy Resident City Commissioner Fort Portal Festus Bandeba says he coordinated with the firefighters in Mubende and Kasese to ensure that the fire is stopped from spreading to surrounding areas.
