Monrovia – The Chief Investigator of the Liberia Fire Service Agency, Col. Robert Holder, says that Librarians should desist from constructing structures in the alleyways to enable the free movement of the Liberia Fire Service in case of a fire disaster.
“Most of us have built into alleyways, built on roads and other places that we have no right to start construction. For those reasons, it is uneasy for the fire service to access those areas when there is a disaster. Stop building in the alleyways because in case of fire disaster, the LFS will not be able to reach you in time,” he said.
It can be recalled that during the early morning hours of Wednesday, September 18, 2019, fire engulfed a Quranic Recitation school located in the Bassa Community, Red Light area, leaving 28 persons, mostly children dead.
Giving an update on the ongoing investigation of the fire incidence, Col. Holder said that it took the LFS crew 26 minutes to get at the scene of the fire, but they couldn’t put off the fire in time because the passageway to the building was blocked by other buildings.
According to the Chief Investigator of the LFS, the team had to connect eight of a 50ft long hose to reach the building only because their vehicle could not access the alley. He also mentioned that when they had finally made their way to the building, they noticed that it had a really tight entrance.
“It had an iron gate and the building was poorly constructed but we were able to burst the entrance open. We fought to bring the situation under control but all of our fight led to no result,” Holder said.
He called on all Liberians to join them in stopping people from building in the alley ways.
“President Weah gave a straight mandate to the Public Works [Ministry] and us to get rid of all buildings constructed in the alleyways and other illegal places to enable us to our job easily,” Col. Holder disclosed.