Health ministry fire was arson, Police report

The fire that gutted a section of Health Ministry headquarters in January last year was likely started by an individual or a group of individuals using a match box, a police report has revealed.

“The results of analysis of samples picked from the scene and burning pattern analysis suggest no ignitable liquid or explosive was used to intentionally start the fire. However, the possibility of an individual or a group of individuals using a matchbox or cigarette lighter to start the fire cannot be ruled out,” states part of the Police report

The results of the six-month investigation contained in a nine paged report further indicated that arson cannot be ruled out as a cause of fire.

“Since fires must be caused, Arson cannot be ruled out as the cause of the fire,” the report states.

This was after police investigators ruled out other 10 likely causes of fire, including lightening, chemical reactions, concave mirrors or radiant heat concentrating glass, nature causes, ignitable liquids, drip down hot material, electrical installation failure, equipment failure and cooking/ hostile fires.

“The presence of a kitchen within the area where the fire started had given a strong suggestion that it is where the fire started from. However, a close examination of the kitchen discounted this belief, given that all items in the kitchen showed they were burnt by heat originating from outside the kitchen,” the report stated.

It also indicated that the microwave which could have been the source of the fire was intact and was not plugged in and the kitchen door was locked but burnt by an external flame not coming from inside the kitchen.

On whether it was due to equipment failure, the secretary’s office was observed to have had a computer and printer. The report indicated that the possibility is negligible given that the rating of computers and printers are usually too low to cause overload.

“No main power surges or lighting strikes were reported, ruling out this being the cause of the fire,” the report states.

According to the report, the team of investigators, found when the fire had already been put out and scene secured.

The fire razed down five offices on level three of Block B of the Ministry headquarters located on Plot 4 Lourdel Road in Kampala’s central division. The affected offices were the department of quality assurance, one in the department of child health, one in the department of reproductive health and another in health education and promotion.

The scene was on January 9 and 11 of 2017 visited by a team of forensic scientists from the Directorate of Government Analytical Laboratory (DGAL). It comprised Assistant Commissioner Emmanuel Nsubuga, Senior Government Analyst Justus Mike Ocom, Principal Lab Technician John Michael Musoke, Lab technician Fred Kwesiga and Slime Birungi, a Lab Assistant. Also present at the scene was Mr Chaningom from the Directorate of Police Forensic Services.
The report indicates that a general examination of the scene, interview with eye witnesses (workers, management and security personnel) and detailed forensic examination of the scene were done to determine the possible causes of the fire.

The detailed forensic examination involved examination of the burning pattern and associated fire indicators such as lines of demarcation, low burns, penetrations, charring, clean burns, pours and trailers.

The permanent secretary to the Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Atwine said that security at building has since been beefed up.

“Accountability documents were lost in the offices that were gutted by the fire,” Dr Atwine told Daily Monitor in an interview.
However, she said that if the fire was intentional, it would be hard to prevent its future occurrence.

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