Tema,– The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) will collaborate with the Tema Regional Office of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to sensitize residents on means to stop fire outbreaks.
Mr Yohane Ashitey Amarh, TMA Chief Executive Officer said there was the need to educate residents and provide them with the GNFS emergency numbers to call whenever there was a fire outbreak to prevent the loss of lives and property.
He said this when he visited a squatter community behind the Tema Timber Market which got burnt down on Wednesday during the rainstorm that hit some parts of the Greater Accra Region.
He noted that the Tema Office of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) was gathering data on the affected persons of the Wednesday Tema Timber Market fire outbreak to support them.
On squatter communities in the industrial city, he said the Assembly was about to embark on the demolition of such communities starting with the one on the premises of the Tema General Hospital and unauthorized structures along the major roads of the metropolis.
Mr Timothy Affum, Assistant Chief Fire Officer who led a team of firefighters to bring the fire under control, told the Ghana News Agency that they received information about the incident after 12:00 hours.
Mr Affum said even though no casualties were recorded, three shops were affected with two totally burnt and one partially, adding that a few wooden structures accommodating them were also destroyed.
He explained that preliminary investigations revealed that embers from sawdust that was burnt around blew into the makeshift structures to start the fire.
He added that they were able to bring the fire under control within an hour after mobilizing 10 appliances including a turntable ladder, fire tenders, and water tankers, noting that it included two appliances from the GPHA fire brigade which came in to support the team.
He advised the public to always call the GNFS quickly whenever there was a fire outbreak for prompt action.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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