Old Parliament House in flames

Fire Thursday gutted sections of the Old Parliament House, destroying several property and vital documents.

The Old Parliament House accommodates the Head Office of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) and the Judgement Debt Commission.

Huge billows of smoke could be seen emanating from the building as personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) attempted to put out the inferno which blazed for close to four hours.

The fire attracted scores of residents and pedestrians who were seen in groups expressing their dismay.

Items destroyed included computers, furniture, documents, air conditioners and other electric appliances.

The fire, which started around 4 a.m., totally destroyed the Finance, Public Relations and Research departments of CHRAJ.

Chief Fire Officer

Briefing the press, the Chief Fire Officer of the GNFS, Mr Albert Brown Gaisie, said the GNFS received a call about a fire incident from security officials stationed at the Old Parliament House around 4 a.m. yesterday.

He said the service responded quickly to the call and, on realising that the inferno was increasing in momentum, it called for reinforcement.

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Mr Gaisie said the personnel were able to fight the fire, as well as stop it from spreading, using about nine appliances from the GNFS, the Armed Forces Fire Service and the National Security.

“For now we are still carrying out some salvaging to find out if some valuables are there and we will not be able to tell you until we fully finish with the salvaging,” he added.

He said the GNFS, together with the police and other security agencies, had commenced investigations into the cause of the fire and pleaded with the public to give the service some time to complete the investigations.

In a related development, the Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, Mr Ellis Robinson, has told an Accra-based radio station that the Old Parliament House structure should be demolished after investigations,  adding, “If there are any future plans to put up a structure, I believe the Fire Service should be contacted to do the right thing.”