Growing up in the northern part of my country, where the harmattan breeze from the Sahara Desert is experienced more and more harshly, we were made to believe that it is one of the leading causes of fire disasters and fire outbreaks back then. During the harmattan season, if fire is not properly controlled, it can go from small to big and destroy everything it can find next to it. In the northern part of the country, during this period, you don't add plenty of firewood to your cooking spot, else the breeze can push the flame and cause it to come in contact with things it was not supposed to come in contact with. You will have to do some consultations so your flame can stay under your pot.
Back then, we used firewood to cook in order to support the kerosene in the house. When we cooked things like beans, bean cake, and all these things that were believed to take longer to be ready, we didn't use the stove to cook them. Despite how many fire disasters and fire outbreaks I had experienced during the harmattan period, I still did not believe that hot air hitting my nose from the Sahara Desert could cause a fire outbreak.
"When you finish cooking the beans, make sure to quench the firewood properly. Please, take your mind off play and do things right," my mom instructed and pleaded.
"Yes ma," I responded reluctantly because I already had plans of how long I would be at a friend's house playing because she was going for a cooperative society meeting.
"I won't be around, Kachi, and this is the harmattan season. I am begging you, please," my mom pleaded again, but instead, the doubt in my heart doubled.
"But mom, how will just hot air be the cause of fire outbreaks?" I asked.
"You don't believe it, right? Because I see how you react whenever it is mentioned that the harmattan breeze and season are periods where more fire outbreaks happen. You doubt it," my mom said with a tone like every African mother would.
"I don't really doubt it. I just find it hard to believe," I responded.
"During this season, everything is dry, very dry and ready to burn. One small spark and you see everything burning like they were waiting for their time. Also, the dusty wind or breeze helps the fire to spread. So don't play with fire during this season, especially near the house," my mom advised as she closed the door behind her.
I rushed to start cooking the beans to enable me to do as instructed and still have the time to visit my friend before she came back. Like expected, the dusty wind kept pushing the fire out from under my pot, and I had to use a zinc sheet for construction to stop all of that. About an hour later, my beans were ready. I put out the fire and made sure I wet the firewood very well and kept it close to the rest of the firewood. A few minutes later, I sprang into the bathroom, took a quick bath, and headed straight to my friend's house as planned.
After a few hours of playing with friends, I realised my mom would be home soon, and I had to head back home so she did not come back and find me not home. From a few meters away, I saw people running with buckets filled with water and sand, and that is what happens when there is a fire outbreak. I almost lost my mind when I saw that all that running was people running into our house and running out of it. I immediately rushed to the house to see that half of the property in the sitting room and children's room had already caught fire before the fire was noticed and neighbours came to our aid.
I called my mom and broke the news to her. She almost slumped and was rushed home, accompanied by the members of the society.
"Yesterday will be the last normal day we will ever experience for a very long time," my mom said as she cried bitterly.
For me, it was on that day that things changed. I was forced to believe that indeed, during the harmattan season, there can easily be a fire outbreak because I know how much water I used to put out the firewood I used in cooking, and somehow, the fire still started from the same firewood I had soaked in water. My siblings and I only had the clothes we had on; every other thing was gone. Things changed that day, and I was blamed for it.
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