Fire destroys five markets in one month

On December 21, 2020, 9:31 AM

Traders have been the ones at the losing end towards the end of the year as the country recorded at least five fire outbreaks at different markets in a period of one month.

Over 5,000 traders have had their livelihoods curtailed with an average of one fire every week from November 18 to December 19.

The worrying trend is occurring even before harmattan, a dry season associated with rampant fire outbreaks.

The market fires constitute a fraction of the various infernos recorded in a year disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has been an annual ritual that seems unstoppable with major markets such as Mallam Atta, Kantamanto, Makola Number Two, Mallam, Dome markets, the Makola Shopping Mall all in Accra as well as the Kumasi Central Market suffering disastrous fire outbreaks in the last eight years.

Electrical faults have been an underlying factor in a majority of the market fires, and the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has called on the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to deal with illegal connections at the trading centres.

“Until these issues are checked, the fires will continue,” Mr Ellis Robertson Okoe, Divisional Officer II, Head of Public Relations of the GNFS said after the latest incident recorded on Saturday, December 19, at the Kaneshie Market Complex.

He was worried about congestion at various markets over the years with increasing demand for power connections, some of which had been done illegally.

There is also a theory that arsonists may be behind the disruptions.

2020 fire outbreaks

The Kaneshie inferno swept through portions of the multipurpose building and destroyed nine fabric shops and a warehouse. Six of the shops were totally burnt with nothing to be salvaged by the victims.

Barely 24 hours before the Kaneshie incident, a fire ripped through a market at Asankragwa in the Western region.

According to reports, the fire tender at the closest fire station had developed a fault for the past six months hence the young men in the area mobilised to douse the fire which lasted several hours.

By the time the fire was put out completely, four shops had been gutted with thousands of items destroyed.

On Tuesday, December 15, fire ravaged the Kantamanto market also in Accra.

Over 2, 592 people were affected, and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia led a government delegation to meet with the leadership of the market and other stakeholders to offer some support.

But a day before, on Monday 14, traders at the Koforidua were left counting their losses as their wares were consumed by fire at that part of the country.

The blaze was reportedly caused by an electrical fault on the main power supply pole of the ECG and spread to the nearby shops.

The most devastating of the series of fire outbreaks was the one that tore through thousands of shops at Odawna, a densely crowded market area on November 18.

It was the second fire incident at the same market within 10 months.

No deaths or injuries were reported, but goods worth thousands of cedis were consumed by the inferno, according to eyewitnesses.

Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) had a tough time gaining access to the poorly planned area.

A former chairman of the Odwana Pedestrian Market Union, Obrempong Ampomah, told theghanareport.com’s Aba Asamoah at least 3,500 shops were affected by the fire.

Before then, the Ashanti Region also has had its share of fires on October 21.

A dawn fire swept through about 54 shops at the French Line section of the Kumasi Central Market, destroying properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis.

According to some victims, the fire started at about 2am from one of the container shops and spread to other structures.

Items including empty sacks, cosmetic products as well as food ingredients were burnt in the fire.

Again in July 2020, fire swept through the Juaben Serwaa market in Koforidua in the Eastern Region destroying at least seven shops.

The dawn inferno consumed items worth thousands of cedis. Some traders trooped to the market centre when news of the fire outbreak got to them.

The traders attempted to salvage some of their wares from their shops. The Juaben Serwaa Market is the second-largest and populated market centre in the New Juaben South Municipality.

Story By David Apinga