KABALE – Fire has on Sunday afternoon gutted five timber stores in Igabiro cell in Southern Division Kabale Municipality destroying property worth millions of shillings.
Eyewitnesses say that the fire started at about 2:50 pm on August 18, and razed down all their timber stalls.
The affected dealers Include; Sarah Byamugisha, Gordon Nyesigamukama, Rodgers Tumukwasibwe, Grace Tumusiime and Maria Muyonge.
According to the affected persons, the fire destroyed most of their merchandise such as chairs, beds, timbers, sideboards among others and machines such as generators, bicycles, bandsaw, Combination machine, timber sizer, drill press, drum sander, bench grinder and jointer among others.
They however accuse the Police Fire Brigade for arriving at the scene about thirty minutes late after the incident.
“I have lost everything in this fire. But police also didn’t do all it takes to save our property. They arrived at the scene 30 minutes after the fires had razed almost everything,” Byamugisha narrates.
Some of the dealers say that they suspect that the fire was sparked off behind their stores where they burn timber residues.
The Kabale Police Fire Brigade Technical Operator Julius Tayebwa says that they were informed late and by the time they reached on the scene, they were overwhelmed by the fire’s intensity.
Police fire brigade, however, refuted allegations by the public that they did not respond on time.
Tayebwa said that the cause of the fire has not yet been established saying they have commenced investigations into the matter.
