Fire guts Kitagata Hospital staff quarters

A staff quarter at Kitagata Hospital in Sheema District was on Tuesday evening razed by a fire. 

The fire whose cause is yet to be ascertained reportedly broke out at about 5pm, destroying two rooms on a block of six.

Mr Muhanguzi Felix, the hospital administrator, said that they are yet to assess the extent of damage caused by the fire. 

"As of now we can't ascertain how much was lost in the fire because we need to sit down with two occupants to give us the details but what I know is that it’s huge," he said.

Mr Musinguzi also blamed the police fire brigade for failing to arrive on time, claiming that the unit would have been saved if they had responded promptly.

"We have lost one unit of our staff quarters because the fire bridged officers came after two hours but I must thank the community especially staff and boda boda riders who helped to put out the blaze," said he said.

Mr Marcial Tumusiime, the greater Bushenyi police spokesperson said the fire could have been caused by a short circuit, adding that they are yet to ascertain its extent of damage. 

"It's most likely that the cause of the fire could have been short circuit but I'm yet to get the report from the team on the ground," said Mr Tumusiime.

Mr Tumusiime also commended the locals for their effort to put out the fire as they waited for the fire brigade to arrive at the scene, adding that their team (fire brigade) was able to extinguish the fire before it could cause massive destruction and spread to other buildings.