In less than one week, the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi has witnessed two fire incidents that have destroyed goods and properties worth hundreds of thousands of Ghana cedis.
The first one was the inferno that ravaged the famous Kejetia market on Wednesday March 15, 2023, following this was the Saturday, March 18, fire that destroyed studios belonging to Kumasi-based Silver FM.
While, the Kejetia Market fire that occurred on March 15, destroyed not less than 30 shops and goods worth hundreds of thousands of Ghana cedis, the one that occurred at Silver FM, burnt several pieces of radio equipment worth millions of cedis.
The incident, which occurred at Silver FM razed all electrical appliances, including consoles in the two main studios of the station.
The fire started during a live radio preaching session at 5 am. Attempts by pastors in the studio to contain the fire were unsuccessful.
A technician of the radio station got injured in his attempt to escape the fire.
According to investigation by the Ghana National Fire Service, the fire outbreak at Kejetia market in the Ashanti Region, was started by a trader who was cooking with gas in a shop.
The shop where the cooking was taking place was near other shops where turpentine, gunpowder and other combustibles were sold.
That was what resulted in explosions in the market when the fire started, the investigators have established.
Like most Ghanaians, we are wont to ask what firefighting measures had been put in place in all our markets, homes, as well as public places.
There is no contesting the fact that while prompt response from the fire service is important, such cannot take the place of preventive measures.
As a newspaper, we sympathise with the traders and all those who have incurred losses in these market infernos and urge the government, as well as local authourities to, without any delay, put in place measures to forestall future occurrences.
We urge traders and shop owners, especially those yet to embrace insurance, to see these frequent fire incidents as an incentive to insure their property and, by so doing, get financial assistance for losses incurred, so they don’t have to rely on the government for any subvention.
Now more than ever before, these recurring incidents of fire disasters underscore the need for stakeholders, including the government, traders and the various market associations, to devise means of ensuring enhanced disaster prevention and management strategies.
