Fire destroys three stores at Agona Swedru

By James Esuon, GNA

Swedru, Sept. 13, GNA - Fire on Monday night razed three stores at the Agona Swedru Business Centre after the owners had closed for the day.

D.O. III, Kwesi Hughes, Agona West Municipal Fire Officer, told the Ghana News Agency that the fire, which started at about 22 hours, took fire personnel of Agona West Municipal and the Winneba Office one hour to douse.

The stores affected were Agboba Herbal Shop, a paint and hardware shop, and a cosmetics store.

D.O. Hughes said since the store contained paints and other inflammable items, the fire could spread to nearby shops, especially a filling station close by, hence a reinforcement from the Winneba Fire Office.

“No cause has been established yet, but preliminary investigations have proved that it may have been caused by an electrical fault,” the Municipal Fire Officer said.

He told the Ghana News Agency that a comprehensive investigation was underway to ascertain the cause, saying the items destroyed had not been quantified.

D.O. Hughes said his office had intensified education with groups, churches, mosques, market women, banks, filling station staffs and decentralised heads among others on fire prevention.

He said Agona Swedru recorded 29 fire outbreaks from January to December last year and had so far recorded 14 this year.

The Municipal Chief Fire Officer attributed the high rate of fire outbreaks in the Municipality to non-adherence to safety measures by the people.

To enhance effective fire control and prevention, he stated that the Chief Fire Officer was doing all in his power to ensure capacity building of personnel.

“Some are in Qatar receiving further training on fire prevention and other techniques while others have been selected to study Fire Forensic Investigations at the University of Cape Coast to ensure efficiency.” 

He called on the public to cooperate with personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service during fires to enhance service delivery.

GNA

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