Fire guts Kanungu shops

By Patson Baraire

FIRE gutted shops at the junction between Kawere Street and Baragaine Road in Kihiihi Town Council in Kanungu District causing damage to property worth millions of shillings.

The officer in charge of Kihiihi Police station Fred Wamunga who rushed to the scene moments after the fire broke out said the fire is suspected to have started in a makeshift structure behind the shops which was being used by some of the occupants as kitchen.

“We suspect that the fire started from the makeshift structures which was being used as a cooking place because there was no power at the time the fire started, but we shall open a General Inquiry File (GIF) in order to get to the root cause of the fire,” Wamunga who joined the rescue team said.

The fire which affected all the 10 shops in the building started at 2pm and it took the residents and rescuers several hours to put out the blaze since police in Kanungu isn’t equipped with firefighting equipment.

The owners of the shops that contained general merchandize struggled to rescue their property while some onlookers made away with other items before the police arrived to protect them.

“I saw smoke come through the behind door which was closed and when I tried to check, I found that fire was already coming towards my shop and had to make an alarm. It attracted other occupants and we immediately rescued our property and also started to pour water on the flames,” one of the shop owners only identified as Tumwine said.

Kihiihi town council LC3 Chairman Zepher Mugisha who visited the scene however blamed the fire on the owner of building, one Joseph Nyabwojo, whom he said had not followed the town planning guidelines and decided to construct a wooden structures as a kitchen behind his building which is not allowed in the town.

Mugisha said that the incident was an eye opener to all town residents and anybody who has put up a wooden structure will be given only two weeks to remove it after which the council will forcefully remove them at the owners cost.

“We have always asked the property owners in the town to follow the town planning guidelines but most of them have refused to heed to our call but now we shall swallow our pride and let the law take its course,” Mugisha said.

The fire comes six months after another fire gutted Kihiihi Western Amusement Park which belonged to businessman Calabu Karabareme. The incident was linked to local politicking and prompted the Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura to fly to the area to carry out investigations.