Barely a week after fire ravaged the French Line part of the Kumasi Central Market, another disaster has struck, but this time at the Race Course Market, destroying over fifty shops and warehouses.
About four fire tenders were deployed by the Ashanti Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), in an attempt to contain the blaze, which started at about 06:30am.
Information available to The Chronicle has it that, the fire engulfed parts of the market that has several warehouses.
Items such as Styrofoam bowls (Take away bowls), maize, tetrapleura tetraptera (prekese), body creams and carbonated drinks among others, running into millions of Ghana cedis were consumed by the fire.
In an interview with the media, one of the victims, who identified himself as Wofa Sammy, a dealer in second hand clothing, disclosed that when he heard of the fire, he rushed to salvage some of the items, but did not succeed. The worried trader bemoaned the rate at which the race course market has been turned into a residential enclave.
He accused leaders of the market of sleeping on the job, lamenting “The market has been turned into a place of abode where people cook and sleep.
Another trader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the media that he could not salvage anything from his shop and that the latest consignment he had brought had all been destroyed.
Aunte Ama, another trader, could not hold back her tears over the magnitude of loss the fire caused her.
According to her, she sells items such as body cream and detergents among others. “We sell all manner of items and we purchase them in large quantities,” she said.
Addressing the media, the Ashanti Regional Fire Commander, ACFO Henry Giwa, noted that the inferno has been brought under control
According to ACFO Giwa, in the early hours of Monday, they had a distress call at their Master Control Room that there was a fire outbreak at Race Course.
They subsequently dispatched a nearby team from Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) to the place.
Upon arriving at the scene, he stated that the fire was blazing, so the team quickly requested for two additional pumps.
Asked about the total number of shops razed down by the fire, ACFO Giwa responded that about fifty-seventy shops were destroyed by the inferno. He, however, indicated that there has not been any human casualty.
Asked about the cause of the fire, he noted that investigations were underway.
The Ashanti regional GNFS Commander urged residents of Ashanti region to be wary of the dry season, especially the harmattan weather.
“The dry season has started and emperatures are very high, so the least fire can trigger bigger fire outbreak. Tables and woods are very dry so I would plead with Ashanti region residents to be careful about triggers of fire, such as electrical appliances and naked fire”
