Access to fire scene at Kumasi Central market was a challenge – Fire Officers

Public relation officer at the Ghana National Fire Service, Divisional Officer 3, in the Ashanti Region, Desmond Ackah, has revealed that fire officers had a daunting task accessing the fire scene at the Kumasi Central Market to douse the inferno in the early hours of Monday April 19.

He told Alfred Ocansey on the Sunrise Show on 3FM Tuesday April 20 that “We succeeded in extinguishing the fire which took us up to five hours. When we were done with the firefighting nobody was injured and also no death as a result of the fire

“What happened was that when the first person saw the fire, instead of calling us early enough they resorted to unprofessionally salvaging the property as the expense of calling the fire service and that took almost twenty minorities.

“That is why when we got there things have already gotten out of hands. God being so good we had to manage to extinguish that Fire.”

“We struggled with the access to the scene of the fire initially,” he stressed.
The section of the market where hand-made shoes and leather sellers pavilions are sited is said to have been heavily affected by Sunday night’s inferno.

Speaking on Akoma FM‘s morning show GhanAkoma Monday, April 19, Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana National Fire Service, DOIII Acquah Desmond, told host Aduanaba Kofi Asante Ennin that “preliminary investigation revealed 40 out of 48 shops within that particular section of the central market [have been affected].”

He explained the main cause of the fire was a result of lightning during Sunday night’s downpour in Kumasi, triggering fluctuations in power and the consequent fire outbreak.

“At about 10:00pm on Sunday, we had a distress call, so our team rushed to the scene. Our major problem was access to the actual scene because of haphazard siting of shops without proper roads and access routes.

“Nonetheless, our team maneuvered and managed the fire from spreading. So at about 11:30pm, the fire was quenched.”

Traders who are still counting their losses told 3news.com the fire is a big blow to them, calling on the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to come to their aid.

SOURCE: 3news.com