Some stores in Kantamanto market in Accra were reportedly burnt in the early hours of Tuesday, November 29 2022.
In order to put out the fire that tore through the Kantamanto Market personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service in Accra had to ask for assistance from the Police and Prison Services.
According to the Service, they learned of the incident at about 4:35 a.m. on Tuesday, but they were unable to properly put out the fire because there was not enough water in the nearby fire hydrants.
The Fire Service says the fire has been confined so that it won't spread to other areas of the market even though they are still unable to determine what started it.
The Public Affairs Director of the Ghana National Fire Service, Timothy Osafo Affum, in an interview said "we don’t have adequate water that we need to fight the fire so we have contacted our friends from the Prisons and Police to help us with tankers to convey water to fight the fire".
"We have now been able to put the fire under control. We have contained it…it means we have prevented the fire from spreading further…what we need is adequate water to finish it. We have requested more tankers".
He explained that "we have adequate hydrants around but Ghana Water Company Limited is also managing water in Accra so I suspect that there is no water in them which is why they have directed us to another place to get water".
Mr Osafo Affum noted that we have about ten hydrants in and around the area. The hydrants are flowing but the pressure is very low to flow".
"A substantial part of kantamanto has been affected but we are unable to tell the number of shops that have been affected".