Liberia: UP Chair's House “Fire Due to Overheated Extension Cord”

— Fire Service says, but UP rubbishes investigation report; says report aims to brazenly extricate CDC operatives  

Authorities of the Liberia National Fire Service (LNFS) have attributed the burning down of the Unity Party (UP) Chairman Rev. Luther J. Tarpeh’s home and vehicle to an overheated extension cord that was not unplugged after being used.

“The investigator observed that a three bed-room structure owned by Tarpeh that was being used as boys’ quarters was totally destroyed by fire with all its contents but no break-in was observed around the entire fence.”

The LNFS director Alex Dickson said “having interviewed Aaron  Paye, one of Tarpeh’s sons, and Alex Railey, security officer, and analyzed the clues gathered, the investigator concluded in his best opinion that the cause of the fire is the result of an overheated extension cord that was not unplugged after use.” 

Dickson added that the entire compound is fenced in so nobody can enter anywhere except through the main entrance as the height of the fence is 9ft or 108inches with broken glasses installed on top, stating “the distance between the fence and the house is 17ft.

On August 12, the home of Tarpeh was gutted by fire and completely got burned with no trace but hours after the incident Unity Party Secretary General Amos Tweh blamed supporters of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC)-led government for the incident. 

However, Information Minister Ledgerhood Julius Rennie described Tweh’s statement as “unfair and irresponsible” bearing no element of truth, and said President George M. Weah is not in the business of physically attacking its political opponents. 

He noted that the investigator analyzed that had it been a petrol bomb used, it would have landed on the roof of the garage or on the roof of the house, and Railey, the security, who was awake and well posted would have seen the flame since it is lighted before being thrown or heard the sound on the zinc.

“If it was a petrol bomb, the fire would be observed on the roof of the garage or the house instead, he smelt something burning. This means that something was burning gradually,” Dickson said. “It is always advisable to unplug your extension cords when they aren’t being used. Unplugging your extension cord will help protect you from shock or fire while also prolonging the life of the cord itself by reducing heat buildup.”

The fire service boss noted that in this case, the extension cord in Tarpeh’s living room was left plugged into the wall outlet causing it to overheat then the fire started. 

Meanwhile, the Unity Party (UP) in its statement accused the fire service of releasing its investigation report without the knowledge of the affected family.

“In their ‘report’ the fire service indicated that Tarpeh's home was gutted by fire as the result of the burning of an extension cord. Unity Party rubbishes this false narrative written by the regime to brazenly extricate CDC operatives of being the masterminds behind the reported arson attack,” UP release said. 

According to UP’s statement, eyewitness accounts on the morning of the incident attest that before the attack, a certain black jeep was seen slowly driving at the edge of the Chairman’s fence where it parked for a while and later two gentlemen disembarked and walked slowly toward the middle of the fence. 

“As the gentlemen entered the vehicle and drove off, the account revealed that it did not take any long when smoke sprouted from the fence which later grew into a wildfire,” the statement indicated.

“It is sad that so-called Fire Service personnel who lack the elementary sense to keep water in fire trucks, would want to hoodwink Liberians into believing that they have the technical capabilities to investigate the cause of a fire that was started in the garage where there is no wall-circuit for an extension cord,” Unity Party said.

The UP noted that the government earlier prejudiced the outcome of this investigative report when it denied that chairman Tarpeh’s home was attacked by thugs, which is why the report was written to justify this conclusion.

The party said it strongly rejects the attempt by the Government to downplay the scale of physical damage caused to the properties of its chairman as a result of the reported attack and requests an independent forensic investigation which it may consider credible.