Yaounde VI fire outbreak shrouded in mystery

Residents of Yaounde VI woke up Friday, September 8, to a massive fire outbreak that consumed a chunk of the municipal council building located in the Acacia neighborhood.

The cause of the fire remains a mystery, and the police have launched an investigation into the incident. The fire consumed most of the council building’s second floor, damaging the Mayor’s office and offices hosting the civil status registry, hygiene and sanitation services, and technical services.

It caused enormous material damage to the civil status records of the municipality. Like many who rushed to the scene that morning, Mayor Jacques Yoki Onana was speechless as he watched the building burn.

The First Deputy Mayor, Pie Claud Nga, estimated that the fire damaged over 70 percent of the structure. He, however, said the Council was doing everything possible to continue operations.

Government officials flocked to the fire scene, including the Minister of Decentralisation, Georges Elanga Obam; the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Celestin Ketcha Kourtes; and the Centre Region Governor, Naseri Paul Bea; among others.

The officials sympathised with the Yaounde VI municipal authorities and promised investigations into the incident.

Water Scarcity Thwarts Firefighters’ Efforts

Firefighters failed to immediately contain the ravaging flames, which illuminated Acacia’s neighbourhood that morning, drawing huge crowds to the municipal council building.

This inability to rapidly respond was attributed to water shortage, a problem that continues to affect Yaounde and other cities in Cameroon.

Pie Claude Nga, the First Deputy Mayor, who was among the first to arrive at the fire scene, claimed that the firefighters were unable to put out the flames because they lacked the necessary water. Fortunately, no human life was lost.

The fire occurred just a day after a pontifical mass was celebrated in the building in memory of the Municipality’s former Mayor, Jean-Claude Adjessa Melingue, who died on September 7, 2013.

Not The First Time

This was the second fire outbreak to ravage the Yaounde 6 Council building, after the first one in April 2014. Like the recent fire, the 2014 fire also remained mysterious.

“I hope it was an accidental fire,” said Mayor Jacques Yoki Onana, whose office was completely ravaged by the flames.