The fire, according to residents in that part of the country, broke out at about 2:30pm when all the youth and strong men had gone to clear their farms, leaving few women and their children in the village. The velocity of the fire from different directions prevented the few women around to confront it which saw the destruction of a pineapple farm belonging to Madam Lucicia Sheriff, former Principal of Harford Secondary School for Girls in Moyamba.
The Limba tribal chief of Limba Corner, Momoh Conteh said this is the second time fire had engulfed their village, pointing out that they didn’t know the source of the fire because according to him there are no farms in any nearby village. He said the first fire incident occurred two years ago when eight houses were burnt leaving out their Church and two other houses, the same number of houses that were spared again.
Tenneh Kamara is presently staying with her four children at Limba Corner, all of them being school going children whilst her husband is in Freetown. She said the fire broke out at a time when they were busy putting heads together for the day’s meal. He said all her children were not at home at the time of the incident which made it more difficult for her to escape with anything including her husband’s sawing machine, children school materials and all their belongs.
Ibrahim Conteh, a student in one of the secondary schools in Moyamba town, said all their school materials were burnt down by the fire, pointing out that they were busy working on their farm when they saw huge smoke from afar. He said by the time they reach home the fire had engulfed their entire village and had also crossed over the main line to the other side of the road.
The pineapple farm, according to sources, had provided employments for youths in Moyamba town and its environs by one of the prominent women in the country, notwithstanding that it has suffered similar fire incident twice in two years.
Although nobody was available to talk to AYV at the time of the incident from the farm, it is believed that the pineapple and poultry farm that had been engulfed by the fire worth millions of Leones’ prompting calls by locals and residents for urgent aid.
