PERSPECTIVE OF A UGANDAN IN CANADA

Opiyo Oloya

Two weeks ago on Monday, July 17, we had just arrived in a pick-up truck in Anaka IDP camp, and parked in front of Anaka Police Post. With me were two Canadian writers, Laura and Jonathan, interested in stories from northern Uganda.

Mr David Okot, a camp leader was telling us about the mysterious fires that burn homes everyday without any apparent reason. Arson was often ruled out because many of the homes tended to burn during the day when people were around to watch for suspicious activities. Moreover, in recent days, fully expecting the fires, homeowners had begun removing all belongings from their homes in the morning.

Coincidentally, as Okot told the story, a fire started out about 200 metres from where we stood in the shade of a big mango tree. “There is a fire just starting right now, and it will burn the house to the ground,” he said excitedly, pointing to white smoke billowing from a house. We piled into the truck and raced to the scene. The fire had started from the top of the roof, and was fast spreading downwards.

A quick inspection indicated that the house was empty, and there was no fireplace where the flame could have accidentally ignited. The gathering crowd confirmed that the house was only used as a sleeping place and not as a kitchen.

In the next 20 minutes, we raced around trying to save the next building which housed a milling machine. Water was brought and poured on the building even as the doomed house burned to the ground. I took many dramatic pictures, including one with the schoolgirl in her uniform who was now homeless.

In the aftermath of the fire, residents crowded around me looking for explanations. One man told the story of his own trousers catching fire spontaneously, burning the pocket. Another told how a sleeping baby caught fire and barely survived. Then there was the whiteman whose camera spontaneously combusted. These, according to the assembled crowd, were compelling evidence of something supernatural.

Although they did not say it, rumour had it that an evil spirit from across the Nile River was responsible and could only be appeased by sacrificing the blood of a young beautiful girl. But is this problem really caused by a bad spirit or can science explain this unusual problem?

In the past, the Uganda government officials have merely laughed at the idea of fire starting by itself or chalked it up to carelessness or even arson. However, as it turns out, the fire may actually be starting spontaneously just like the IDP residents have been saying all along. And no, the Devil is not to blame for it.

The answer to the problem of spontaneous fires in Anaka and elsewhere may actually be found on North American farms where farmers grow hay to feed livestock. On June 16, for instance, the Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Arkansas put out a warning to farmers of spontaneous fire in stored hay grass. In the news release, Mr Robert Seay, the Benton County agent with the University of Arkansas was quoted as saying that when hay is baled at moisture levels above 20 percent, heat builds in a bale, similar to heat generated in a compost pile. “Damp bales slowly build heat, and the more elevated the internal temperature becomes, the greater the risk of internal combustion,” he said.

What he was saying is simply this — when wet, green grass is piled in a heap, over time it undergoes chemical reactions and forms mould which generate senough heat to start a fire all on its own.

In fact, as reported by CBS News, that is exactly what happened on July 20 in the small town of Mira Loma, California, where as many as 20 firefighters fought a ferocious fire that began spontaneously in a haystack at a local cattle feed.

The fire destroyed more than 160 tons of hay at Mira Loma Feed and Hardware with damage estimated at $90,000. Professor Lester Vough, Forage Crops Extension Specialist, and leading expert on hay fire at the University of Maryland, USA is almost certain that the fires in Anaka are similar to hay fires on North American farms. Speaking to the New Vision by phone, he explained that when freshly cut wet and green grass is piled in a heap, chemical reactions produce a steady amount of heat that is released into the bale.

American farmers call the rising temperature inside the pile of hay as “sweating” or “going through a heat”. Over time, especially when the moisture cannot escape, heat is trapped inside the hay, and temperature may build dangerously. At about 150 degrees farenheit, the hay turns black and spontaneous fire can begin in the haystack all on its own.

He speculated that the people of Anaka and the other IDP camps are thatching their home with wet fresh green grass. “When you think about it, green grass does not usually burn by itself, but when left in a thick mat, the green grass begins to decay thereby releasing heat which builds in six to eight weeks into the potential for fire,” he said.

Moreover, the fire can happen during the day, night or even when it is raining — just like the residents of Anaka have described it. The solution, according to Professor Vough is to spread out freshly cut green grass to dry in the sun before using it for thatching roofs. He will consider flying out to Uganda at a moment’s notice if invited by the government, he said.

And with the life of a sacrificial young child likely hanging in the balance, the government must act immediately to get the good professor on the ground to help explain to IDP residents why fire is starting all by itself in their homes.

Opiyo.oloya@sympatico.ca