Fires gut 300 shops at Kumasi Central Market:Destroy shacks at Ashaiman
Two fires that occurred last Wednesday night at the Kumasi Central Market and Tutulane, close to the Ashaiman Market, have left in their trail, the destruction of mainly shops in the case of the Kumasi fire and shacks occupied by sex workers at Ashaiman.
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The Central Market inferno that started at about 9 p.m. raged for 10 hours, destroying over 300 shops, while the Tutulane fire destroyed more than 40 wooden structures, home to mostly sex workers.
Donald Ato Dapatem reports from Kumasi that the affected portion of the Kumasi Central Market that covers the size of two football fields dotted with shops and stores was reduced to rubble.
The destroyed properties included cold stores, sewing machines, cosmetics and cash. The rest were food items such as live birds and other poultry products, bags of rice, cassava, plantain, yams and corn dough.
Ironically, while some of th
Firemen
Firemen from various parts of the Ashanti Region were mobilised under the leadership of Assistant Chief Fire Officer in charge of the region, Semekor Fiadzo, to contain the fire.
According to Mr Fiadzo, their work was hampered by the harmattan dry winds, coupled with the lack of access to the epicentre of the fire because the routes had been blocked by makeshift shops, as well as the unavailability of water hydrants.
Victims
Most of the market women who rushed to the scene upon hearing the news through the media wept.
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However, Madam Afia Konadu, a 51-year-old mother of four, told the Daily Graphic that although she had lost almost everything including the school fees for her two children, “God will make a way”.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Peter Anarfi-Mensah, and the Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Mr Kojo Bonsu, were at the scene to commiserate with the victims.
Mr Anarfi-Mensah commended the firefighters for their professionalism and said the Regional Security Council would convene an emergency meeting to, among other issues, discuss the fire and the way forward.
Background
The latest fire outbreak at the market, the first this year, is described as the biggest in the history of the market.
Between 2014 and last year, the market recorded five fire outbreaks.
On the first of January this year, nine shops at Roman Hill, a suburb of Kumasi, were also razed to the ground.
Ashaiman fire
Benjamin Xornam Glover who reported on the Tutulane fire in Ashaiman said the fire, which started about 11:30 a.m. yesterday, destroyed over 40 wooden structures occupied mostly by sex workers.
Items destroyed by the fire included electrical appliances, cooking utensils and personal effects. No casualty was recorded.
Eyewitnesses said the quick response of personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) stopped the fire from spreading to the nearby communities. It took the personnel nearly two hours to bring the fire under control.
Two suspects were, however, arrested by the Ashaiman Police for allegedly looting while the fire was raging.
The Ashaiman Municipal Fire Commander, Divisional Fire Officer (DFO) III Anthony Mawuko Semey, said two fire engines from the Ashaiman Main Fire and Tema Regional Fire offices and a water tanker were deployed to put out the fire.
He said it was too early to tell the exact cause of the fire, adding that investigations would be launched into the incident.
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Arrest
For his part, Chief Superintendent F.S. Adikah of the Ashaiman Division of the Ghana Police Service said police personnel were dispatched to the scene to provide security and prevent looting and explained that the two suspects were arrested for looting at the scene.
He said they would be put before court after investigations had been completed, adding that the looted items had been retrieved and would be used as exhibits during their prosecution.
Appeal
Meanwhile, some traders and residents in the area have appealed to the Municipal Assembly to rid the area of the shacks as well as the sex workers.
According to them, the activities of the sex workers, who sometimes harboured hardened criminals, posed a threat to the security of law-abiding citizens of the area and Ashaiman as a whole.
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