Burnt compound house and containers
Victims could not hold back their tears when fire consumed one big compound house, eight containers and a drinking spot at the early hours of Friday, 1st March, 2019 at the Central Business District at Berekum.
The fire was so intense that by the time a combined team of firefighters were able to bring it under control, the whole house, containers and the drinking spot had been destroyed. Not a single item was retrieved from the place. Fortunately, no life was lost but properties running into millions of cedis were all engulfed by the raging fire.
Mr. Kojo Agyekum, the Municipal NADMO Director, who took media men around the place, said when the fire started, residents called the Berekum National Fire Service but the response they had was that the fire tender had broken down so they could not come to the rescue of the residents.
Mr. Agyekum said the Nsuatre and Dormaa Ahenkro Fire Service were called but by the time they arrived, it was too late to save anything. All attempts made by DAILY GUIDE to speak to the Municipal Fire Officer failed since all his cell phones could not be reached.
One of the victims, Maame Yaa Manu, said when the fire started and they called the Fire Service, it took more than 30 minutes for the call to go through, adding that “when they said their fire tender was spoiled, all that we could do was to stand afar and look on as our properties were burned down to ashes by the fire”.
FROM Eric Bawah, Berekum