Death trap at home

 

 

The smell of charred material hit her nostrils. Rubbing her eyes, she could see it all the heavy flames razing the walls down. Winfred Akoyo, 26, jumped out of her bed and rushed to rescue her one-year-old son who was asleep in another bedroom.

 

She got severely burnt in what turned out to be a futile attempt to rescue her son, Robert Oire. Oire burnt to death on the night of February 6, 2012. The fire was sparked off by a candle left burning. Akoyo has since been in and out of Soroti Hospital, nursing the wounds she sustained while trying to save her baby. 

 

Almost every week, there is a story in the papers of a house burning down and family members dying in the process. On June 3, three family members died and three others were rushed to hospital in critical condition after fire gutted a six-roomed house in Wakiso District. The inferno was sparked off by an electrical appliance.

 

The fire engulfed the house at about 1:00am while the victims were asleep. The deceased were Isma Kawooya, Saudha Namate, 16 and Sakira Nakubulwa, six. 

 

According to the 2011 Police crime report, about 1.4% of homicide deaths in the home are due to fire outbreaks. The report shows that while there is a decline in the number of homicides reported, the fire outbreaks in the home are still appalling.

 

For instance, 125 Ugandans were victims of fire outbreaks in 2011, down from to 176 victims in 2010. About 28 home fires were recorded in 2011, while in 2010, 76 homes destroyed by fire. 

 

“We believe that some incidents go on unreported, because some people might not see it necessary to report,” observes Ibin Ssenkumbi, the spokesperson of Kampala Metropolitan Police division.

 

Ssenkumbi says fire outbreaks, especially in urban areas, have become a security and economic concern since many people have lost lives and property. 

 

About four million Ugandan households use tadooba (kerosene lamps) and candles due to insufficient electricity and lighting systems, according to a 2005/6 Uganda National Household Survey.

 

With a candle costing as little as sh200, more families are using candles. Sometimes, it is because there is no electricity available in a rural or isolated location, not paying electricity bills or fallen electric lines due to bad weather.

 

Unfortunately, like was with the case of Akoyo, the candle and tadooba is spelling doom for a lot of families. According to Dr. Robert Sentongo, the head of the burns unit, a third of the patients admitted to Mulago Hospital’s Burns Unit are as a result of candle fires. He adds that 66% of them are children. 

 

The highest incidences of burns that we receive from houses result from candles,” Sentongo says. 

“If you are to use a candle, you should put it in a specific place where children cannot reach and where it cannot easily fall over,” he says.   He appeals for mass sensitisation on the use of the candle and first aid on the burns.

 

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However, some fires come due to malice from ill-intentioned people. Late last year, Agnes Ageno Tinkasimire, the wife of Buyaga MP Barnabas Tinkasimire died from severe burns after spending five days in an intensive care unit at Mulago Hospital.  Unidentified assailants torched their house in Mukono at around 3:00am.

 

Some of the neighbours suspected that the attackers had poured petrol around the house, tied a cotton cord around to convey the fire, and dipped one end in a jerrycan of petrol before lighting the cord.

 

They are also said to have placed sachets of ground red pepper, allegedly to deter rescuers from breaking the door to save the family. While some people claimed it could be an unresolved family affair, others linked to the recent parliamentary role of MP Tinkasiimire in the demolition of the city structures.

 

Like Ageno, on February 16, 2013, a six-year-old boy died after his step-mother Margaret Nampiima, 27, allegedly locked him up in the house together with his three siblings while they were asleep and set it on fire.  

 

The incident happened in Namuyenje village, Nakisunga Sub County in Mukono District. Shafik Jjuuko, died of suffocation while three toddlers were rescued with injuries from the fire that also destroyed household property.

 

Mukono Police chief Alfred Bagambaki cautioned families to mind their children when dealing with new spouses. He also appealed to families to report to Police for protection when they feel that their lives are at risk.

 

Uganda Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association estimates that gas usage among Ugandans, is at 1% because Ugandans have not yet embraced the technology.

 

This is partly because of the fear of the gas cooker. Although there are no specific reported house fires related to the few homes that use them, one mother tells of how her son got wounded with bruises when her maid tried to light the gas cooker without instruction.  She turned the knob and the whole house smelled of gas.  But she was just in time to save her little son. 

 

Christine Amuge, the marketing manager of the Oxyl Uganda Ltd says gas cylinders require a regulator which holds back the high pressure gas in the cylinder and allows a constant low pressure supply to the cooker.

 

“If you have to wrestle with it, know that it is badly made. It is important that is does not leak. If you are not using it, keep or lock it away from the children, Amuge says. Meanwhile, the Police also warn that charcoal stoves and firewood are other key causes of house fires. “As long as you have a fire in the house, anything can happen if you do not put it out,” says Senkumbi.

Recently, fire gutted the mansion of the Queen of Apostle sisters home in Jinja and burnt everything to ashes. The fire was caused by a short circuit by a water heater and it spread easily because the house was poorly wired.

 

Simon Peter Musoke, the Police fire safety officer says residential houses are at more risk of fire outbreaks resulting from short circuits because of home electricity appliances, some of which are left to run for several hours. “When you are not using them switch them off. Sometimes, the cables are overloaded, and coupled with overheating, that is a fire,” he says.

 

The Uganda National Bureau of Standards boss, Dr. Ben Manyindo also warns of substandard appliances on the market. “Try to be vigilant, and do background checks especially from downtown dealers. You buy a cable today and tomorrow it blows up!” he warns.

 

Ibin Ssenkumbi appeals to the public to be cautious with candles, charcoal stoves and other open sources of fire.  For the bigger residential houses, he appeals to home owners to install smoke detectors. 

 

A smoke detector is a device that detects smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. Ssenkumbi observes that smoke detectors sense fire at infant stage when it is still manageable.

 

He further notes that if there are inflammable materials around, it takes a fire about five minutes to get out of control, adding that the best way to handle such fire is by detecting it early.

 

A smoke detector costs between sh150, 000 and sh290, 000 depending on the package needed. One could also buy fire alarm systems which go for sh290, 000.  

 

The Police is also are planning to establish as many fire stations as possible across the country to reduce on fire incidences.

 

For long, there have been only nine fire stations throughout the country namely: Kampala, Jinja, Mbale, Tororo, Entebbe, Masaka, Mbarara, Gulu and Hoima. The Police also plan to equip the fire stations with vehicles and motorcycles to facilitate fire prevention and safety efforts.