Fires destroy part of Kumasi Central Market and Huawei Furniture Company in Accra
Two fierce fires swept through the Kumasi Central Market and a furniture-manufacturing factory on the Spintex Road in Accra in the early hours of yesterday and on Thursday evening respectively, destroying property running into millions of cedis.
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A workshop, a warehouse, shops and an apartment were burnt in the two fires. There were no casualties.
More than 50 shops were destroyed by the eight-hour blaze at the Kumasi Central Market.
The fire, which started around 2 a.m. at the 31st portion of the market where mostly plastic products and guinea fowls were sold, razed down the place. Fire personnel from the regional fire station struggled for nearly six hours to put out the fire.
Some of the affected traders wailed uncontrollably over their losses.
It was the third fire outbreak in the market this year and the sixth in the city after similar fires occurred at Roman Hill, two slums at Santase and Dagomba Line near Anloga Junction and Mbrom. There were fire outbreaks in the market on January 7 and January 23, this year.
Cause
The cause of the latest fire is unknown but eyewitnesses told the Daily Graphic that they suspected a trader might have left behind a naked fire after cooking.
The Public Relations Officer of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Mr Godwin Okumah Nyame, who led a team of officials of the assembly to the scene, cautioned against illegal connections and the exposure of electrical wires in markets in the city.
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Spintex fire
The fire that occurred at the Huawei Furniture Company Limited, at Kotobabi Junction on the Spintex Road in Accra, reduced both finished products and production materials to ashes.
The fire destroyed machinery at the company’s workshop, part of which also served as a warehouse for items including large quantities of wood, leather and upholstery fabrics.
It also destroyed parts of a one-storey building which houses employees of the company.
The blaze also destroyed a vehicle at an adjourning apartment, the K. Ofori Community Apartment. The residence of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Danadams Pharmaceuticals, Dr Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, suffered broken windows and glasses as a result of the intense heat from the fire.
It took a combined fire team from Teshie-Nungua, Tema, Airport and Accra Central about four hours to put out the fire.
Eyewitness account
According to one of the workers, Mr Ebenezer Ntow, the fire started around 5:55 p.m. when the workers were rounding up activities for the day.
“The lights suddenly went off when we were about to leave the main workshop where we worked as carpenters. Moments later, one of our colleagues, who works in the foam holding warehouse, started screaming fire, fire,” Mr Ntow told the Daily Graphic.
“We attempted using the fire extinguishers available at the facility, but due to the combustible nature of the items in stock, the extinguishers could not withstand the might of the fire,” he added.
Many people in the vicinity, where there are fast food joints, a number of container and wooden structures, some of which serve as homes for squatters, attempted to evacuate whatever they could save before the fire caught up with them.
While others ran for their lives, some others helped to put out the fire by dousing it with buckets of water. As usual, some petty thieves took advantage of the situation and stole the mobile phones of people who were taking shots of the happenings.
The first fire engine to arrive at the scene could not immediately refill and continue with the firefighting, when it ran out of water because no water hydrant could be located in the area.
Fire engines from Teshie-Nungua and reinforcement from Tema and Airport later joined in the firefighting and successfully put out the fire.
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The Batsonaa Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Baba Adamu, led a team from the division which evacuated residents of the nearby K. Ofori Apartment to a hotel.
Marketing Manager
The Marketing Manager of the company, Mr Eric Owusu, told the Daily Graphic that the company had lost items running into thousands of cedis.
He said because the company produced for large furniture showrooms in the country, it stocked large quantities of production materials so that work could be consistent.
Security chiefs
The Chief Fire Officer, Mr Albert Brown Gaisie, the Accra Regional Police Commander, Commissioner of Police (COP) Dr George Dampare, were also at the scene to assess the situation.
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When the Daily Graphic visited the scene again at about 6:30 a.m. yesterday, the management and workers of the company were at the scene, assisting firemen in their investigations.
Dr Dampare was also back at the scene.
Tenants of the K. Ofori apartment appealed to the police to protect what was left in their rooms while the property owners made arrangements to temporarily accommodate them for rehabilitation works to be carried out on the apartment.