Several Valuables lost to ravaging Fire at Foncha street

 Building on fire 

A fire outbreak at the Foncha street neighbourhood in Bamenda belonging to one Pa Boma Christopher has consumed the entire top floor.

Built in an L-shape, the building caught fire at about 6PM local time, Wednesday 21st August 2024.

It took the timely intervention of some bike riders and some courageous boys to mount the rooftop to prevent the fire from extending to other neighbours. Buckets of water were used to stop the fire from spreading.

Remains of the top floor before the arrival of the Army Rescue team

Unsure about the extend of the damage that will incurred, three cars parked in front of the house were quickly pushed out of the compound by the crowd.

It was at 7:27PM that the elements of the army rescue unit stormed the area to contain the fire from spreading further.

Without a hydrant around the area, the Army Rescue van could only get additional water at Mile 2 Junction.

As at the time of the fire outbreak, The Observer learnt in good authority that children of the house were all out when the building caught fire but there was a grand mother at home who was taken down before the fire could spread.

The true cause of the fire has not been established as at press time.

This is the second fire incident in 48 hours. On Monday 19th August 2024, fire caught the roof of a factory in old time Bamenda.

Since the 22nd February 2024 when sections of the Bamenda Main market caught fire, the army rescue unit has had sleepless nights curbing several fire outbreaks in Bamenda from residences to commercial buildings.

The incident occurred just three hours after the City Mayor of the Bamenda city council, Paul Achobong, spoke to the  press after the mid term evaluation and budget adjustment session of the city council where measures to curb the excruciating pain of fire outbreaks were voted. The city board voted to have fire balls around where households and businesses could procure at an affordable price. This will immediately power off any houshold about to be affected by fore. The city Mayor said the fire balls were already around and will be unveiled in the days ahead. 

Pa Boma Christopher served as North West Provincial Delegate for National Delegation and Pioneer Regional Delegate of Basic Education.

By

Ndi Tsembom Elvis and Munya Charles Babila