SEVERAL SHOPS have been gutted by an inferno at the French Line Market, near the Kumasi Central Market on Sunday morning.
The exact cause of the blaze, which destroyed items in the shops, was not immediately known when this report was being filed.
According to eyewitness reports, they spotted a huge smoke from one of the shops in the market around 8am, and before they could react, it turned into a massive blaze.
The eyewitnesses then called personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), who also sent their men to the scene, the paper gathered. According to Divisional Officer Grade 1, Rashid Nisawu, Deputy Regional Commander at the Ashanti Regional Fire Command, they received a distress call 8:39am and rushed to Alabar-French Line.
“We sent five fire engines and when they got to the fire scene, the inferno was burning and destroying food items, which were mainly cereals at the French Line,” he said, adding that access to the fire scene was the main challenge the firefighters faced.
Divisional Officer Grade 1, Rashid Nisawu, also said most of the shops had gas cylinders, which the traders use for cooking “and it caused explosions here and there”. According to him, despite the challenges that they encountered, the firefighters managed to quench the blaze at exactly 10:58am, saying, “The fire is under control now.”
The fire officer, however, could not readily state the exact cause of the fire and the shops destroyed by the fire, noting that investigations were underway.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi