Family lose Dh100,000 as Ras Al Khaimah furniture business burns to ground

Philip Akinmoladun told of his devastation after waking to find his showroom ablaze

Philip's wife Damilola looks at the damage to their furniture store. Antonie Robertson / The National

The Akinmoladun family sift through the ruins of their furniture store. Antonie Robertson / The National

The Akinmoladun family sift through the ruins of their furniture store. Antonie Robertson / The National

The Akinmoladun family sift through the ruins of their furniture store. Antonie Robertson / The National

The Akinmoladun family sift through the ruins of their furniture store. Antonie Robertson / The National

A father-of-two told of his devastation after his furniture showroom burned to the ground.

Taiwo Philip Akinmoladun woke on 3am on Monday to find his business ablaze.

The store was located near his home in Ras Al Khaimah's Jazirah Al Hamra area.

He tried to put out the fire but many of his goods were destroyed by the time fire crews arrived.

"I lost everything and I don't know from where to start," the 37-year-old, from Nigeria, told The National.

“I had so many valuable furniture and electronics in the storage area outside and the showroom worth around Dh100,000, but all of it was burned."

Mr Akinmoladun picked through the remains of furniture and white goods on Wednesday with his wife Damilola.

He said the cause of the fire was still unknown.

"I need to pay at least Dh10,000 to restore the place but I don’t know how," he said.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, he had 15 employees that collected and delivered second-hand furniture in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, but had to let them go due to a trading downturn.

“I just recently started to recover from this bad financial situation,” he said.

Mr Akinmoladun, who started his business in 2016, said his local community and customers have tried to help him get back on his feet.

“Some people offered to give me their used furniture for free, and I will be always grateful for them, but I don’t have a big place to store all the furniture now," he said.

"I need to fix what the fire damaged.”