GBARNGA, Bong County — A violent fire outbreak on Broad Street in Gbarnga, Bong County, on Monday, March 9, 2026, destroyed a chain of stores as residents struggled to contain the blaze without the support of firefighting equipment.
The fire, which began in the evening hours, quickly spread through a row of upstairs commercial buildings, leaving shop owners and residents scrambling to salvage what they could. However, most valuables could not be removed before the flames engulfed the structures.
With no fire truck or professional firefighting equipment available in the county, local residents were forced to battle the flames themselves using buckets of water and other improvised means.
Speaking to Verity at the scene, several residents expressed frustration over what they described as the government’s failure to provide basic emergency services for Bong County.
“We have to fight the fire ourselves because there is no fire truck here,” one resident who joined efforts to extinguish the blaze told a Verity reporter.
Another resident also voiced concern about the lack of emergency response capacity in the county.
“Bong County is the central point of Liberia. This big county has no fire truck? This is bad for us,” the resident said. “We’re told a fire truck is coming from Nimba County, but before they come, everything will be damaged.”
Residents are calling on government authorities and their elected representatives to prioritize securing a fire truck for Bong County to respond to future fire disasters.
As of press time, the fire was still burning, leaving residents in dismay as they continued efforts to contain the blaze with limited resources. The full extent of the damage has not yet been determined.
