WAKISO. Properties worth millions of money have been destroyed in a fire that gutted two furniture workshops on Tuesday night along the Kampala-Mityana Highway in Bunwa Village, Buloba in Wakiso District.
According to first responders , the fire is suspected to have been caused by a short circuit in one of the meter boxes near a utility pole at Veron Wood Gallery Limited, before spreading to other furniture showrooms. Two workshops bellowing to companies including Veron Wood Gallery Limited and Skyler Timber World were completely l destroyed.
Mr Grace Nsubuga, the proprietor of Veron Wood Gallery Limited, said all his machines used in manufacturing furniture, timber, and furniture items amounting to Shs500 million were destroyed.
“Over 10 machines were all set ablaze. The fire was caused by irregular power supply. This is the second time fire is breaking out here,” he said.
He told the Monitor that the Police Fire Brigade arrived one hour later due to a heavy traffic jam.
At the time of the inferno , the security guard identified as Gilbert Asuma who guards this premise had taken his child to a clinic for treatment.
“I had accompanied my wife to take our child to the clinic. In less than 10 minutes after leaving the workshop, I received a phone call from my boss that the place had caught fire,” he said.
Asuma said Buloba has been experiencing unstable power supply of late, which he claims caused a similar short circuit three weeks ago.
“We were lucky that the incident happened during the day when all the workers were on duty. We used the available fire extinguishers to put out fire because it was manageable,” he added.
Neighbours sounded alarm to the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL), which they say has underplayed their role in Buloba, citing intermittent power supply over time.
On the fateful day, they say power first blacked out more than three times consecutively, when they heard a loud sound like an explosion.
“I was inside my house when I heard a blast. At first I thought it was an explosion because the sound was unusual. I moved out to see what had happened, and there was smoke all over the place,” Ms Aida Namayiga, a resident of three areas, said.
She called upon responsible authorities to intervene, noting that similar incidents may happen again and claim lives.
Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Police spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire confirmed the incident, noting that preliminary investigations indicate that fire is suspected to have been caused by electrical fault, reportedly due to unstable power supply at the time of the incident.
He revealed that at least one person identified as Jackline Onzili, 25, sustained injuries and was rushed to a nearby medical facility for treatment.
“The Uganda Police Force fire prevention rescue services urges the public to exercise caution in the use of open flames and electric installations.
UEDCL acting spokesperson Stephen Ilungole said they had not yet registered the incident and efforts were underway to get in touch with the affected persons to establish the exact problem that caused the fire outbreak.
“We are going to crosscheck in our files and find out.”