A fire broke out in Karenni Refugee Camp No. 1 yesterday. More than 40 houses and a primary school were razed.

“A total of 46 buildings, including the No. 3 Primary School, were burned down in Karenni Refugee Camp No. 1. However, I don’t know the exact numbers of chickens and pigs we have lost. We haven’t lost any human beings,” U Sar Reh, the headman of Ward No. 13, said.

The fire started from the remains of a kitchen fire that was left unattended by a house owner when he went out to his job. Nineteen houses and the primary school were burned down within an hour. The other 27 houses were destroyed to prevent the fire from spreading to other houses in the camp.

“We have already attended firefighter training. We know what to do when houses are burning. That’s why we could prevent some houses from being lost. We took out some roofs and house walls before the fire was able to spread. Thus, the fire could not spread to all of the houses in the area. If we hadn’t done this, all the houses would have been lost. We destroyed 27 houses before the fire spread to them,” a member of the camp’s firefighting team said.

Last year, about 60 houses were burned down in Ward No. 4 in Karenni Refugee Camp No. 1. Over 10,000 Karenni refugees have resettled to third countries from 2006 to 2010. Currently, there are 15,000 refugees living in Karenni Refugee Camp No. 1.