Fire Destroys Only School in Zorzor, Disrupts 150 Students

Published: June 22, 2026

ZORZOR, Lofa County — More than 150 children in Borkeza Junction have been shut out of school after fire destroyed the community’s only building late Friday, days before sixth-period exams and with no replacement classroom in sight.

The blaze gutted the six-classroom Yarkpawuo Karway Public School, which sits between the outskirts of Borkeza Junction and Gumbu, along with its offices, textbooks, furniture, documents and sports materials. By eyewitness accounts, the fire started after students, most of them under 12, stored charcoal in an empty classroom to keep it dry in the rain. No school administrator was present at the time.

“Actually we the students of the Yarkpawuo Karway public school decided to undertake a project on our campus, while in the process we saw the rain and there was nowhere we could hide the coal so we decided to put it in one of the classrooms. We never knew if fire was among the coal, and that was how fire blaised from there and burned the school,” said Jerry B. Weedor, president of the student council, speaking quietly.

Teacher Crayton Weedor said the school lost large quantities of textbooks, blackboards, chairs, documents and sports equipment, and that no site has been found for temporary classes. “No where to start from right now as the six period exam approaches,” he said, warning that the loss will set back the children’s learning unless help comes quickly.

Built with community support, the school has been a small but strategic institution serving lower-elementary children who would otherwise walk 30 to 45 minutes to schools in nearby towns. Reopened in 2004, it ran for years from a mud structure roofed with pipoo until the community, with fewer than 50 households, undertook a modern building project that took nearly four years to finish with little government support, even though the school is considered a government institution.

“We started on our own and later started crying on candidates during every campaign period and the Swedish government later came and finished it,” said Forkpa Tarnue, a landlord in Borkeza Junction.

For residents, the loss cuts deep because they built the facility themselves and, only a few years ago, saw the new building as a breakthrough. Tarnue said the school spared families the unsafe journey to Zelemai, Borkeza and Fissebu, a particular worry for girls. “This school was a great help for us, our children never had to leave from here,” he said.

“The things we passed through for this school to be built, if today we can see this school burn, it’s really sore in my flesh,” parent Kebeh Yengbeh told journalists shortly after the fire. She said the school had been a lifeline for parents whose children cannot walk hours each day to class.

Students and parents are appealing to the national government, humanitarian groups and nongovernmental organizations for urgent help as the school year nears its end. “We are calling on our big people and others who get the hand to please help us because it’s not easy on us,” the student council president said.