Residents of Pleebo City, Maryland County are reeling from a fire incident that has destroyed a two-storey building with several shops.
By Patrick N. Mensah, Maryland County
Pleebo City, Liberia; August 26, 2025 — Fire has gutted a two-storey building with shops in Zone Four community, Pleebo, Maryland County, southeast Liberia, leaving several citizens in shock.
The incident occurred on Thursday, August 21, 2025, when fire brought down a makeshift mud hut used as a shop adjacent the two-storey building that contains eight bedrooms. The structure was owned by a local businessman identified as Gyude Morgan.
Speaking to this paper during the incident, several residents around the damaged homes regretted the situation, with some attributing it to witch-haunt.
Though actual cause of the fire is yet to be established, sources on the scene suspected it might be as a result of electrical fault.
Sources added that the fire gutted a hut used as a shop and burnt it down to ashes despite efforts applied by residents before it extended to the two-storey building owned by Mr. Morgan.
The building was used as a shop and a residential area, occupied by tenants. There has been no report of casualty or death.
The lower part of the building has two separate shops and the upper part has rooms occupied by both the family and tenants.
The damage occurred in the absence of the two victims in question, but Mr. Morgan received a phone call that his home and storey building had be gutted in flames.
He quickly rushed back to Pleebo, but by then, the fire had already consumed the entire structure despite efforts made by residents within the area to off the flames.
The destruction of the eight-room- two-storey building, according to the father of nine, is not just a property loss, but collapse of his family’s livelihood.
“I have lost everything I worked for,” Mr. Morgan lamented in a sorrowful tone. “My children depend on me for their education and survival. Now, I do not know where to begin again. I am appealing to humanitarian groups and good-spirited people to come to our rescue.”
Neighbors recall that the blaze began in a nearby makeshift mud hut and quickly spread to the Morgan’s property. With no firefighting equipment in Pleebo, residents could only watch helplessly as the flames devoured the building, using buckets of water and sand in vain attempts to off the fire.
Mr. Morgan’s home was more than just a business hub. It contained four bedrooms, a small apartment, and two storey units that supported his family. Six of his children are still in school, while three are recent high school graduates. All of the children now face an uncertain future, as the family struggles to recover.
The disaster has drawn an outpouring of sympathy from neighbors and local leaders. Community members are mobilizing to provide moral and limited material support, but the scale of the loss far exceeds what residents can contribute.
“This fire has left Mr. Morgan and his children in a very desperate condition,” said one neighbor, who helped to console the family. “He needs the help of everyone, because this was his life’s investment.”
While city officials continue to call for improved fire safety measures, the Morgan’s immediate concern is survival and rebuilding.
His appeal highlights the human cost of the absence of emergency services in rural Liberia, where one fire can erase decades of hard work.
“We thank God although the house got burned but nobody died from the incident”, they expressed.
Expressing his frustration, a male tenant, Jocab, who sells auto-parts in one of the shops of the building, said it was regrettable to have heard the entire building gutted in flames and praise God for mercy.
For his part, Alphonso Toe, an electrician of the Liberia Electricity Corporation in the county expressed disappointment.
He disclosed that several LEC customers in the county, sometimes failed to contact the corporation whenever they have electrical problems, rather, preferring to call private individuals that claim to be electricians.
Mr. Toe said the LEC Maryland station does not have capacity to provide homes for victims, but cautioned residents to learn from such mistake and report any problem to the corporation.
Though the cause of the fire is yet to be established, several citizens in Pleebo, Maryland County are calling in government to provide fire service equipment to prevent a repeat of such incident. Editing by Jonathan Browne
