Most school fires are deliberate: Police director

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The police director for fire and rescue services Assistant Inspector General of Police, Joseph Mugisa, has disclosed that majority of the recent school fires were deliberate.

This means that the deaths of the five children and the destruction of property were as a result of murder and arson respectively.

In an interview with Uganda Radio Network, Mugisa said their findings about school fires point to deliberate action.

In the first two weeks of school reopening after nearly two years of closure in a bid to minimize the spread of Covid-19, fire gutted schools in among other districts of Kampala, Kyotera, Wakiso, Kamuli and Mayuge.

Five children lost their lives in the infernos at New Crest Junior at Kibedi in Kawempe division in Kampala, and St Johns Nursery & Primary school in Kyotera district. Four of the five fatalities were pupils at New Crest Junior in Kampala while one was a pupil at St Johns.

But Mugisa explains that in all these incidents, their yet to be concluded investigations point to deliberate actions as the cause of these fires. However, Mugisa adds that they are yet to establish the motives of setting schools ablaze.

“Majority were as a result of suspected deliberate action by unknown people,” Mugisa said. “That’s what we have established. It was for unknown reasons so far, but that is what we have established,” Mugisa said.

The five pupils who died in these school fires since the reopening of schools on January 10, are Tena Denge 6, Bashira Nabawesi 6, Julian Nakalanzi 6, and Hasina Nakawuki 7, who were all pupils at New Crest Junior at Kibedi while Mark Savio Serugo was the pupil who died at St Johns Nursery and Primary school.

Police say the biggest number of schools do not have CCTV cameras that could capture the suspected arsonist especially when they are external. Nevertheless, Mugisa adds that they are doing a lot in schools including tipping schools on possible ways to prevent or contain the fire outbreaks.

“There is a lot going on in the country,” the Assistant Inspector General said. “Our officers wherever they are, are moving around boarding schools doing the teaching and doing the inspection. In the first two weeks, we had a number of fires but the trend has changed. The awareness is on plugging loopholes. We are about to succeed but there is no room for complacency. The tempo must continue.”

Away from the deliberate fires in schools, Mugisa explains that several infernos like the one of last week at Vivo Energy was caused by friction in the fuel truck tyres as it had moved for a long distance. The Hima Cement factory blaze resulted from metal fabrication sparks.

Mugisa adds that the hot temperatures and dry winds across the country have largely contributed to the fires. Because of dry weather and strong winds, Mugisa says even a spark from a metal being hammered is enough to ignite fire.

“The contributing factors are mainly relatively high temperatures, windy conditions and dryness generally,”  Mugisa elaborated. “If it’s dry, windy and temperatures are high, even if you have a spark from welding or even if you are hammering a metal, a small spark is enough to cause fire. The wind sustains the fire.”

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