MONROVIA, Montserrado – A massive fire damaged a section of the ERA supermarket located at 16th Street and Tubman Boulevard in Sinkor on Tuesday afternoon.
According to workers on the scene, the fire began in the generator room at approximately 2:20 P.M. but the blaze was not visible to patrons at the nearby Peace Café until around 2:45 P.M.
The situation was a cause for concern because it took place beneath electrical wires mounted on Liberia Electricity Corporation’s poles in addition to being next door to the Aminata gas station. At times, the sparks from the wires could be heard crackling.
The scene of the fire after firefighters arrived. Photo: Jefferson Krua
The supermarket’s employees, aided by bystanders, were able to break down the locked door and walls of the generator room, before they hurled wet sand and water at the flames, calming the fire until the fire service trucks arrived.
Workers reported that the Liberia National Fire Service arrived approximately one hour after they were called (the fire service station on Ashmun Street is a 15-minute drive away from the supermarket’s location and at the time of the fire, traffic flowed briskly along the boulevard). When firefighters arrived, black smoke had started to spread to the apartments above the supermarket.
The generator room of the ERA supermarket after the fire was contained. Photo: Jefferson Krua
Firefighters were able to tame the fire within less than two hours, leaving a partly charred building. The cause of the fire has yet to be established, although it is assumed to have been caused by an electrical fault.
Featured photo by Jefferson Krua
