Because our courtyard dad is the mayor of his village, Kangala, we heard about it hours after it started. Kangala is about an hour’s drive from Orodara and has about 4,000 residents, all of the Senoufou ethnicity (except Colin). There had not been any rain in Kangala for quite some time, rendering very dry conditions. Lightening struck and started a fire that ultimately burned 52 houses and over 200 granaries 
(people here usually have small granaries in their courtyards where they store food for their family from one harvest to the next). Ultimately 468 people were affected by the fire. Fortunately, no one was injured. The fire started in the afternoon, when all of the adults were out in the fields cultivating and the village children were out climbing mango trees. The wind carried the fire from one neighborhood to the next. Putting out the fire was made more difficult because the village gets water from pumps and wells, resulting in a great effort to get relatively paltry amounts.
Dave and I had the opportunity to visit Kangala to encourage Colin and the other residents of
Kangala and take pictures. Colin has been busy helping to hoist tents sent by Action Sociale (social services arm of the government) and clear rubble from the fire. We also visited with the prefet of the village, who could not stop glowing about how helpful Colin has been in the effort 
to help those affected by the fire. In fact, most of the people we visited with lauded his efforts to help, such as helping villagers to transport water during the fire and cleaning up after. Naturally Colin was very humble about the whole affair. I was very struck by this sentiment that he shared with us: “When the fire first broke out, I grabbed a bag with things from my house that I thought were important [passport, camera, money, etc]. Then I saw all these people in their courtyards throwing water on their granaries.”
Almost of the homes, granaries and animal shelters are built from mud bricks with thatch roofs
of straw. The fire spread via trees and roofs, also burning the contents within the structures. The consequences of the fire are serious. First, food stocks intended to last until September 
(the harvest season) and personal possessions (including cash, since banks are not used) were burned in seconds. Secondly, the season for straw ended in April, so very little straw is available to rebuild roofs, and that which is available is very expensive. Normally people repair straw roofs in March and April, when straw is plentiful, and then cultivate in the fields from sunrise to late night daily from May to September. As you might have inferred, those who had straw roofs burn probably also had their cash savings burn too.
The government and various aid organizations have been sending tents, food supplies, personal effects and cash. I’m not sure what else needs to be done at this juncture. The scene when we visited, 5 days after the fire, was calm.
Flames leapt from the house on the right into the open vents of the windows of the cement house on the right, burning all of the contents in the home.
These yellow tents are the FEMA trailers of Kangala – people whose houses burned now sleep in those tents.
The foreground shows a porcerie (pig pen) that was burned, also unfortunately killing all of the pigs inside. Those who raise animals for a living store the bulk of their personal wealth in animals.
Granaries are the circular structures.
Health PCV Colin and his counterpart, Siaka.
Our courtyard dad’s extended family.
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