The National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), has confirmed that one of the buildings on the compound of the National Reference Laboratory in Charlesville, Margibi County, was gutted by fire in the early afternoon hours of Thursday, March 17, 2022.
NPHIL says that though the Fire Department of the Roberts International Airport rushed to rescue the building and made frantic efforts to extinguish the fire, but the fire relentlessly persisted for many hours up to 9:00PM, thereby consuming the roof, floor, windows, doors, and every item in the building.
Our reporter who visited the scene said the entire building to ashes leaving only the concrete structure standing.
NPHIL The Director General, Jane A. Macauley who arrived on the scene of the fire shortly after it begun, expressed shock, noting that the destruction of the building is a setback to the strenuous, costly, but steady renovation of dilapidated buildings on the compound.
She indicated that the Charlesville facility, which is former home of the defunct Liberia Institute of Bio-Medical Research, is very essential to the operation of NPHIL, as it hosts the National Reference Laboratory and the Research Department of the entity.
The Director General expressed gratitude to the Management of the Roberts International Airport and the gallant firefighters thereof, for their speedy interventions, without which the fire could have spread to other parts of the compound. The Director General is also glad that there were no casualties from the fire incident.
The origin of the fire is still unknown, but NPHIL has engaged the management of the Liberia National Fire Service to conduct an investigation into the origin of the fire, after which appropriate actions will be taken.
