Urban Fire Incidence and Planning Responses at the Bamenda Central Market, North West Region of Cameroon

Clarkson Mvo Wanie^1, , Edwin Mua Kang¹ and Roland Saah Wallang¹

¹Department of Geography and Planning, The University of Bamenda, Bamenda, Cameroon

Cite this paper:
Clarkson Mvo Wanie, Edwin Mua Kang and Roland Saah Wallang. Urban Fire Incidence and Planning Responses at the Bamenda Central Market, North West Region of Cameroon. Journal of City and Development. 2024; 6(1):16-23. doi: 10.12691/jcd-6-1-2

Abstract

In the first quarter of the 21st Century, urban areas especially in the developing economies have suffered the effects of fire disaster. Whilst urban fire disaster often takes people unaware, it is undoubtedly clear that planning to secure urban markets for future fire occurrence has been fruitless. It is against this background that the recent fire disaster in the Bamenda Central Market on the 22nd of February, 2024 received unanswered planning questions. This paper probes to investigate urban fire incidence and planning responses at the Bamenda Central Market. The study used systematic field observation, 85 copies of questionnaire and personal interview technique as primary sources of data collection. The administration of 85 copies of questionnaire was carried out using purposive and simple random sampling techniques in the Bamenda Central market. The number of directly affected victims, stores damaged and estimated cost were matched with secondary data obtained from Bamenda City Council. Findings revealed that about 25% of the Bamenda Central Market was consumed by fire with goods, liquid cash and infrastructural damage amounting to billions of FCFA were lost in the process. The population revealed that technological triggers (63.53%) and urban market planning problems (36.47%) were responsible for the fire incidence. Findings revealed market planning mistakes with a 2.5m distance from one shop alignment to another. This indicates limited space for vehicles to access during emergency. The materials used for market construction and the continuum of roofing system precipitated the fire crossover. The study opts for proper segmentation of markets, decongesting the inner market paths while expanding these paths to 5m apart. Also, the market should be constructed in a modern way using cemented roofing to reduce fire outrage. The study equally recommends the installation of electric systems that detect contact and failure in individual shops in order to tackle pro-active fire management and planning in urban markets.

Keywords:
Incidence market mismatch planning responses

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