Fire razes New Bell property

The disaster, provoked by a burning candle, left no human casualty. Several properties, including a segment of a residence were on Sunday, September 7, 2014 destroyed by a fire outbreak in an area called Babylon in the New Bell neighbourhood.

The fire, which resulted from a lit candle, completely razed one of seven rooms of the house a few blocks away from Hotel La Côte. In it were a wooden wardrobe, clothing and cutlery, among others. The incident occurred in less than a week after a similar disaster killed five people at the Madagascar neighbourhood in Douala.

It was at about 10 am when the drastic incident occurred. The landlady, Patricia K., said she used candles in the room during the day and at night. “I have lived like that without electric power supply in my three-room apartment for eight weeks.” At the time of the incident, she was in a beer parlour not far away from home but within the neighbourhood.

Smoke billowing from the house caught the attention of alert neighbours who immediately broke into a tenant’s room in order to stop the disaster happening in the landlady’s apartment. Hordes of young people in just a short time thronged the area and climbed surrounding buildings. From housetops and storeys they shot sand and poured water until the mishap stopped.

The fire did not cross over to other rooms and houses. There was no human casualty. Only parlour furniture, among other household properties in the sitting room, were saved following quick rescue efforts.

Pandema Petula, a tenant, returned from the market just to discover that not only the door to her room had been broken but also the ceiling was scattered and roof removed during efforts to put off the fire. Meanwhile, her properties and those of some of her co-tenants were destroyed by sand and mud used to stop the drastic fire.