By Gad Masereka
Jinja: Over 15 houses in Jinja Municipality were destroyed by the fire which started at 3:00 am on a fateful Friday night.
The affected residents who were left homeless are employees of CPC Freight Services Jinja. It is alleged the fire was caused by a charcoal stove that was left burning throughout the night.
Some of residents we talked to blamed police for having not responded in time. Angry residents said, they called police service lines which went unanswered for close to 30 minutes not until they rushed to police but were unfortunately told, fire fighting vehicles needed repairs.
Musa Mwidhu, a resident said the fire brigade arrived when most of the property had perished in the fire.
Some residents requested Government to equip police with more firefighting equipment to manage fire outbreaks other than relying on factories which in most cases undergo long processes before extending aid to the public.
Meanwhile Collins Agaba, the Kiira regional fire officer said that fire fighting vehicles are undergoing periodic maintenance and will be ready by Monday.
He, however, denied reports of ignoring emergency calls in case of fire outbreaks.
“Our fire fighting vehicle is always parked at the station, with a full tank of water and whenever a call for help comes in, we rush to the scene and also contact other partners from factories to boost the rescue mission, “he said.
