Fire ravaged a three-story building at Makola Market
• Fire ravaged a three-story building at Makola on Monday
• It is one of many fire incidents at major markets in the country
• GhanaWeb highlights five of the fire incidents at markets
In 2013, after a series of fire outbreaks in major markets across the country, the then government led by John Dramani Mahama engaged the services of experts from the United States of America to investigate the outbreaks.
It was expected that the work of these forensic investigators was going to serve as the blueprint for dealing with fire-related issues at markets to curtail recurrence.
More than eight years on from when the investigators touched down in Ghana, the report of their investigations remains unknown to the general public.
As the wait continues for ‘the report’ and further wait for when its recommendations will be implemented, Ghana now experiences an annual ritual of infernos ravaging major markets.
We are just halfway through the year 2021 and already some major markets have been hit with millions of cash and items being consumed by these fires.
Below are five of major fire outbreaks that have hit some markets in the country
Makola Fire outbreak
The Makola outbreak is the latest one that triggered this write up. On Monday July 5, 2021 fire engulfed a three-story building at the trading hub of Makola with items worth millions of cedis going up in flames.
The fire which as per reports commenced around 8:30 was quenched in the afternoon as firefighting personnel did not have the needed resources to expeditiously deal with it.
Over fifty shops were burnt in the process.
Some of the witnesses who spoke to GhanaWeb alleged that it could be due to electrical fault.
Kumasi Central Market
In April this year, over 40 shops in Kumasi were burnt to ashes by a rampaging fire.
The shops that were gutted by the fire were mostly sandals manufacturing shops at the Kumasi Central Market.
Eye witness account has it that the Central Market Fire started around 8:48 pm on Sunday while the shoemakers were still working.
But instead of calling for help to extinguish the fire, the attendants decided to salvage their wares as the situation worsened.
Timber Market in Accra
As the name suggests, the timber market is the hub of wood trade in the capital. In the wee hours of Monday, May 10, 2021 an inferno broke out and consumed some shops in that market.
Due to the nature of the market, the fire travelled easily and destroyed loads of properties.
The Ghana National Fire Service who were once again accused of being late to the scene promised to investigate and unravel the cause but so far no update has been given yet.
Techiman market fire
Also in April 2021, a two-story building located at the Techiman market was gutted by fire.
The fire which commenced around 12:30pm was fought by fire service personnel with five tenders.
The cause of the fire which affected several shops in the market still remains unknown.
Mankessim fire outbreak
Fire ravaged the Mankessim Market in the Central Region, destroying several properties – twice in the space of a month.
The first and more destructive one was on April 20 whiles the second hit on May 31. The former is said to have consumed over 20 containers and five cold stores in the process.
Eyewitness account mentioned electrical fault as the cause of the fire.