Monrovia – One of Liberia’s busiest shopping districts, Randall Street was shut down Tuesday along with adjacent streets after fire blazed through a local electrical store, Power Tech, one of the largest distributors of generators in the country.
Nearly all the stores in vicinity of Randall – from Benson to UN drive were closed as traffic piled and firefighters fought to contain the blaze. Eagle Electrical and Marconi, two other retailers of electrical supplies are also located in the area.
Authorities are yet to determine the cause of the fire but bystanders were left puzzled as only one fire truck was seen at the scene.
One firefighter told FrontPageAfrica that they were waiting for trucks from the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company to help put out the blaze.
A few meters away on Gurley Street where the fire station is located, two trucks were seen parked.
Workers there told FrontPageAfrica that the trucks had no fuel and battery and were inoperable.
At the time the fire station was built, Monrovia had less than 300,000. That number has now swelled to more than 1.4 million.
Today, most of the major locations in the city lack fire trucks or tools to put out fires, leaving key areas like Duala, Paynesville, Sinkor, Brewerville and central Monrovia vulnerable to incidents like the blaze gutting Randal Street.
Powertech Incorporated came on the scene in Liberia in 1994 and is regarded as one of the leading stores for electrical supplies.
Powertech also provides a sustainable flow of products, backed by Spare Parts and other Technical and Manpower Support and is one of a handful of stores meeting market demands for electrical products.
Tuesday’s fire is said to have damaged a large inventory of various sizes of Power Generators which runs on average of US15,000.