Properties worth several thousands of cedis have been destroyed at the Assin Fosu old Education Road after a severe fire outbreak burnt eight shops in the neighborhood.
The fire was so intense that, personnel from the Assin Fosu Fire Station spent close to two hours before the situation was brought under control.
The shops which got burnt include a printing press, a restaurant, a pub, and a dressmaking shop.
Printing equipment, sound systems, sewing machines, clothes, fridges, drinks, and goods running into several thousands of Ghana cedis were destroyed by the fire.
Although the cause of the fire outbreak is currently unknown, an eyewitness says they heard a gas cylinder explode in one of the shops.
“We were in the other shop next to the pub and we heard the cylinder explode so we all rushed out and saw the fire burning. We tried quenching it ourselves but to no avail. We couldn’t couldn’t call the fire personnel at the onset due to how the thing started,” an eyewitness narrated.
Another stated that “I saw the fire whilst driving out of one of my shops to a different place to work. I asked them if they had called Fire Service and they said their line has not been going through. I have their secretary’s contact so I called her and relayed the information to her and by five minutes, they were here. They really did well. Had it not been the Fire Service, the entire place would have been burnt.”
Meanwhile, the Assin Fosu Municipal Fire Officer, DOIII Paul Tawiah, disclosed that the lack of proximity to fire hydrant is one of the major challenges they encountered whist attempting to douse the flame.
He pleaded with the Ghana Water Company and the Assin Fosu Municipal Assembly to provide fire hydrants at vantage points at Assin Fosu to make the work easier.
He also cautioned against persons who interfered in the process to pick up some items from the ravaging fire, saying it also distracted their quest to quench the fire.
Source:onuaonline.com