Published: June 17, 2026
HARPER, Maryland County – A destructive fire tore through a shop and warehouse on Water Street Monday night, destroying a family business and reigniting public anger over unstable electricity and the absence of a rapid firefighting response in Harper City.
The blaze broke out around 8 p.m. June 15 and consumed a commercial building owned by Mariama Fofana, a well-known businesswoman. Witnesses said the flames spread quickly through the structure, destroying food supplies and household goods stored inside.
No deaths or injuries were reported, but the financial loss was severe. Fofana estimated that goods worth more than US$10,000 were destroyed, including bags of rice, cooking oil, beans, ground nuts and other commodities that supplied customers across the city.
Standing near the charred remains of her business Tuesday morning, Fofana described the ordeal as heartbreaking.
“This was my livelihood. I worked for years to build this business, and in one night everything was gone,” she said.
Residents said the fire may have been triggered by repeated power outages and voltage fluctuations that have become common in Harper. Several witnesses said the electricity had gone on and off multiple times before the blaze erupted, intensifying long-running concerns about the reliability of supply in Maryland County. Residents say sudden surges and interruptions have damaged appliances and threatened businesses for months.
Gabriel Baccus Gbagbar, a senior officer of the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation in Maryland County, called for an investigation into LIBENERGY, the private company responsible for managing Harper City’s electricity supply.
“If investigations confirm that this fire resulted from electrical fluctuations, then the power provider must answer serious questions,” Gbagbar said. “People have complained repeatedly about unstable voltage, and those complaints cannot continue to be ignored.”
He urged national authorities and regulators to examine whether negligence or poor infrastructure contributed to the destruction.
As the flames engulfed the building, nearby residents formed bucket lines and used whatever tools they could find to keep the fire from spreading to neighboring structures. Witnesses said the community’s intervention prevented an even larger disaster in the crowded commercial area. But many residents expressed outrage that firefighters from the Liberia National Fire Service reportedly did not arrive despite repeated emergency calls.
“We called for help several times, but no fire truck came,” one resident who joined the firefighting effort told this newspaper. “If the community had not acted quickly, more buildings would have burned.”
The apparent absence of an official response has fueled broader criticism of public safety preparedness in southeastern Liberia, where fire outbreaks often overwhelm local communities because of limited equipment and manpower.
Amid the confusion, some individuals were allegedly seen removing goods from the burning premises. Witnesses claimed several items were looted while residents struggled to contain the fire, conduct that community leaders condemned as unacceptable during a moment of crisis.
For many business owners in Harper, the fire is more than an isolated tragedy. Traders say unstable electricity, the lack of firefighting capacity and inadequate emergency coordination pose constant threats to commerce in the county capital.
As of press time, neither LIBENERGY nor the Liberia National Fire Service had issued a statement. County authorities are expected to open an investigation to determine the cause of the fire. For Fofana, the immediate concern is survival.
“I have lost everything,” she said, staring at the ashes where her business once stood.
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