The aftermath of the fire
Fire gutted some two rooms at the Tesano Police Barracks yesterday afternoon. Firefighters from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) who dashed to the fire scene saved ten out of the twelve rooms on Block 3 of the barracks.
Although some of the police personnel were able to salvage a few of their belongings from the fire, many lost their personal effects running into thousands of Ghana Cedis.
The fire started at a time the victims were on duty.
No casualty was recorded and many believe the fire may have been started by an electric spark.
A police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity and claimed to be a former occupant of one of the rooms on the said Block, told the paper he believed the fire may have started as a result of the poor wiring system.
He said the building was constructed in the early 80s and had never seen any repair works even though occupants continued to use many electrical appliances on a daily basis.
“When I was staying here, we reported this issue on several occasions to the police administration but nothing came out of this and some of us had to move out to rent our own apartment outside the barracks,” the police officer revealed.
The Tesano Divisional Commander, ACP Oduro Amaning yesterday visited the scene to ascertain the damage caused.
He said around 2:05pm, Tesano police had information that there was a fire outbreak in Block 3 of the barracks.
He said police proceeded to the scene and found that all personal belongings of some of the occupants of the block had completely burnt down.
According to ACP Amaning, personnel from the Accra Regional Fire Service managed to fight the fire and to control it from spreading to adjourning rooms.
He added that fire service personnel who assessed the situation were yet to identify the cause of the fire.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey