Mysterious fire destroys cotton worth Shs300m in Gulu

A devastating fire has razed down Coo Rom ginnery belonging to Gulu Agricultural Development Cooperation destroying stored cotton worth Shs300 million, officials at the ginnery have reported.
The fire reportedly began on Wednesday afternoon in one of the cotton stores where about 350 metric tonnes of cotton were being stored in Layibi Division Gulu Municipality.

Mr Dominic Opiyo, one of the casual labourers at the ginnery told this reporter that the fire began when workers had broken off for lunch.
He said they first saw smoke billowing from one of the ventilation in the cotton store before large fire engulfed the room.

“We are unsure of what caused the fire in the cotton store because there was no one left in the room by the time it begun. It took us by surprise,” he said.
He said they tried fighting the fire by pouring water and fire extinguishers but they couldn’t manage it because it had spread quickly in the whole store.

Mr Charles Oboth, the Operations Manager Gulu Agricultural Development Cooperative said they estimate about 40 percent of the cotton stored [about 150 metric tonnes] has been damaged.
He suspects that an ignition in the store room could have sparked off the fire but noted that full assessment on the exact cause will be done.
“The workers tried as much as possible to put out the fire, unfortunately it was too big for us to fight. We had to call the police for help,” Mr Ouni said.

He said they will sort out the damaged and good cotton to come out with exact extent of damage.
The Regional Fire Officer for Aswa River Region ASP Dick Ouni who responded with police firefighting officers after fire brigade from St Mary’s Hospital Lacor had intervened said the joint cooperation helped put off the fire fast.
He noted that by the time they intervened, some of the cotton had already been burnt.

Mr Ouni said they have launched investigation to establish the exact cause of the fire.
“We don’t know what happened. We shall investigate the cause of the fire but at the moment, the situation has been contained,” Mr Ouni said.
He said there is need to sensitize the management of Coo rom ginnery on how best they can avoid such incidences since they deal in highly flammable products.

This is the second time in a period of seven years that fire has destroyed cotton at Coo rom ginnery.
In 2010, about 60 metric tonnes of cotton were destroyed in similar circumstance when mysterious fire gutted one of the cotton stores.
In a related development, a total of 11 grass thatched huts and two kiosks where this morning burnt down in separate fire incidences in Kati Kati village and Cerelenu in Gulu Municipality according to Police reports.

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