Chariot Hotel Buea counts losses as fire ravages warehouse

A fire outbreak that struck Chariot Hotel, Buea, Wednesday, December 6, caused an estimated loss of FCFA 2.5 billion, says the hotel’s public relations officer, Sanga Theophilus.

The flames consumed the hotel’s warehouse, where invaluable supplies and renovation materials were stored.

Among the materials, he recounted, were a stock of tiles, toilet pots, televisions, zinc, air conditioners, fridges, and many other pieces of equipment that were to be used for the hotel’s ongoing renovation works.

Eyewitnesses say the incident occurred around 1 p.m., and efforts to stop the flames were futile due to the lack of a fire brigade.

The hotel’s general manager, Kungang Victorine, shared her anguish, recounting the moment she heard of the fire.

“I was in my office when I heard people calling and alerting me that there was fire. Immediately I heard the word fire, I immediately rushed toward the kitchen as that was what I thought, but instead, I saw people rushing towards the main warehouse, and my heart dropped,” she told The Post newspaper.

One of the first people who witnessed the incident was Mabepoh Simon Fanteh, a security guard at the hotel.

He described his reaction upon seeing the flames: “I was at my security post when I heard people calling for help and screaming around the magazine area. I had no idea what was going on till I saw heavy smoke coming out of the magazine. I tried to call the firefighters, but was told that Buea doesn’t have that department,” he disclosed.

The absence of firefighters in Buea and its surroundings made the situation worse.

Faced with this problem, the hotel sought aid from the local community, utilizing water pumps and even purchasing extinguisher balls to combat the flames.

“We called the whole of Bomaka to come help us, since there weren’t fire fighters. We called those guys with water pump to use our swimming pool to extract water to cool the fire down. We even asked around Malingo and bought boxes of extinguisher balls to help us cure the situation,” the General Manager recounted.

The warehouse, considered the heart of Chariot’s operations, housed critical products, including construction materials, appliances, and supplies for the hotel.

But in a few hours, all of them were gone. The flames significantly damaged the roof of the warehouse but was contained before they could reach nearby buildings.

That evening, the Governor of the South West Region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, visited the hotel complex to take stock of the fire outbreak.

He had a brief meeting with the hotel’s management before departing the scene.

Although the main cause of the outbreak could not be ascertained, suspicions point to electricity malfunctions.

As Chariot Hotel faces the aftermath of this devastating incident, questions linger about the absence of a firefighting unit in Buea despite numerous fire incidents recorded in the city yearly.

Mimi Mefo Info