23 Families Displaced by Fire in Point 4

Twenty three families were displaced last Thursday night in Point 4, on Bushrod Island in Monrovia after a rain storm struck a transformer that set five zinc houses ablaze.There were no injuries or deaths.“It was around 11 p.m. when the storm hit this area and unroofed the nearby Playmate Cinema,” shop owner, Ibrahim Sow, 48, told the Daily Observer.He said the roof of the cinema flew off and dropped on nearby houses.“Then as we waited and the storm increased, it struck the transformer that partly controlled my zinc houses with nine rooms.“There were five houses in all and sadly no one could save any personal items,” Sow, who also owns the Amadou Sow Provision Shop, said.The displaced included women and children, who appealed to humanitarian groups, including the Liberia National Red Cross Society, to come to their assistance with emergency relief.Sow commended the neighbors for their prompt response that helped to save nearby houses.When officers from the Liberia National Fire Service arrived, Sow said, the fire had already consumed the five houses.Also speaking to the Daily Observer, Alphonso Kamanu, 58, chairman of the Elder’s Council of the Point 4 Community said among the displaced are several widows who had previously lost their houses to the raging Atlantic Ocean on Colonel West Street.“Some of the widows lost all they had to the Atlantic Ocean and were brought here to live and now they have again lost everything in their possession,” Elder Kamanu told our reporter.Elder Kamanu, armed with a record of all the displaced, appealed to the government and humanitarian agencies to provide emergency relief to the suffering.“These people are now displaced and are being sheltered by their friends,” Elder Kamanu said. “We all need urgent help,” he pleaded.Most of the 23 families are with grandchildren and several are in their 50s. It is the third fire incident to affect New Kru Town since April this year. The first affected journalist D. Sonpon Weah, who lost five zinc houses. In the second fire, seven houses on Karpeh Street were burnt down. Now the Point 4 incident has happened.Each of these fire incidents has displaced families, now numbering altogether more than 200 victims, who are crying for emergency relief.Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)