Seven houses have been burnt to ashes in Wandegeya, Kitamanyagamba Kagugube zone just behind the Law Development Center (LDC).
Property worth millions of shillings was lost as eye witnesses attributed the loss to delay by police fire brigade to access the venue on time.
It is not yet clear where the fire started as there are conflicting accounts from eyewitnesses. One eyewitness said the fire started from a nearby rubbish pit while another told this reporter that the fire started from someone’s kitchen in the neighborhood.
However Police suspects that afternoon fire started from one household that was cooking.
Angry residents who lost property worth millions of shillings hurled insults at the police that arrived after the fire had destroyed the houses.
They castigated police for the slow response, saying that a lot could have been saved if the fire fighters had responded rapidly.
The Kampala Metropilitan Police spokesman Emillian Kayima however attributed the slow response to poor infrastructure in the affected area.
“Access to the place that was burning was a huge problem because it is a slum and our firefighting vehicle couldn’t easily move to that place,” Kayima said.
He however said no life was lost in the fire and there were no injuries sustained.
Mr Kayima has advised the public to take precautions against fires during this dry season.
“There are people in this country who cook in their own homes and at night they don’t care to ensure all fire has been put out which can cause a big problem,” he said adding that people must know the numbers of fire brigades and the local police for quick action short of that we will be at a huge risk.
