Families stranded as fire razes 67 houses in Butebo

BUTEBO

More than 100 families in Kakoro Sub County in Butebo District have been left homeless following a mysterious fire that burnt their houses.               

The Bukedi police spokesperson, Mr Sowadi Kamulya, confirmed the incident but said the cause of the fire is not yet known. 

“We have not yet found out the cause of the fire,” he said, adding that police officers have been deployed to carry out forensic investigations into the fire.               

Evil spirits?

However, residents attribute the mysterious fire to evil spirits, claiming that it first originated from a ray that was seen on top of one of the houses on Friday before spreading to neighbouring houses. 

“The fire started on the top of the roof of our neighbour's house before it swiftly spread to other houses, leaving everything burnt," Mr James Kapere, a witness said. 

“We just saw fire jumping from one house to another. We cannot tell know how it started. We are living in fear because we do not know what will happen next,” he said, adding that over 30 houses in his neighborhood were burnt.               

Mr Benard Mukisa, the Kakoro LC3 chairman said the fire left over 60 houses burnt. 

“The fire has reduced every house and the property to ashes,” he said, adding that the destruction was huge because of the presence of mostly grass-thatched houses in the area. 

Mr Mukisa said affected people are now sleeping in the cold and on the verge of starvation after the fire destroyed their property including stored food.

Help needed 

“We call for government intervention because this is now beyond our means. The affected families have been left with nothing,” Mukisa said. 

The most affected residents are from Bumesula village, Tekwana parish, where the fire reportedly started from, under unclear circumstances before spreading to other villages on Thursday. 

Mr John Arikodi Opulutu, a father of 26 children said the magnitude of destruction is too big for his family and other households to recover in the short time. 

“Life has become hard. We have nothing and we are sleeping in the cold,” he said. 

Mr Opulutu said the affected families tried to put off the fire but they were over empowered. 

The Gombolola Internal Security Officer [GISO], Mr James Kiswa, however, told Daily Monitor that people have started to flee their homes due to mysterious fires that continue ravage their houses. 

“The residents are fleeing their home because they are not safe. They fear that anything might happen,” he said. 

Mr Kiswa said the sub-county leadership and the police have embarked on engaging the affected families to establish the root-cause of the rampant fires. 

Mr Fred Mudukoyi, the area MP, said the district leadership is drawing a plan to help the affected families.