Fire has gutted a one-bedroom apartment on a three-storey flat at the old Ho Workers’ Estate Tuesday morning.
The inferno, which started at about 9:30 am, completely ravaged the bedroom of the apartment located on the top floor of the building.
A female occupant of the apartment who was in the room at the time of the fire, however escaped unhurt, thanks to some residents who managed to curtail the spread of the fire before the arrival of personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service.
An eyewitness who recounted the incident to DAILY GUIDE said the fire could have easily consumed the entire flat, had the residents not acted swiftly.
“The fire started from the bedroom at the top, and some people who went to quench it managed to prevent it from spreading to the kitchen. One brave man was able to cut off the main electricity supply switch on the block to prevent the fire from engulfing the entire floor,” the eyewitness recounted.
Another eyewitness, Francis, who believed the fire might have been caused by an electrical fault, was unhappy with the response time of the Fire Service.
Although he could not tell the time the Service was called, he alleged that it took the fire personnel more than 30 minutes to arrive at the scene. He said had they arrived earlier, some of the properties could have been salvaged.
The eyewitness’ claim was however, discounted by a source at the Ghana National Fire Service, who said that their men responded to the situation within three minutes after the call had come through and managed to douse the blaze in 30 minutes upon arriving.
Daniella Ntow-Sarpong, Volta Regional Fire Commander who was at the scene of the fire with her team, said they were yet to commence investigation into the cause of the inferno.
Gibril Abdul Razak, Ho (gbabdulrazak@gmail.com)