By Albert Futukpor
Tamale, Nov 10, GNA – Five shops and three rooms serving as bedrooms opposite the Tamale taxi rank were gutted by fire on Wednesday afternoon.
There were no casualties, but valuable property had been lost.
It took the intervention of personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to bring the fire under control.
Assistant Divisional Officer (Grade II) Mr Baba Hudu, Public Relations Officer of the GNFS in the Northern Region, who briefed journalists about what the GNFS had observed about the situation, said investigations had begun to ascertain the cause of the fire.
He said: “Our men were dispatched to the scene and in about six to seven minutes, they were here. The whole place was engulfed in fire. Quickly, they called for reinforcement to augment the supply of water and men” to tactfully attack the fire.”
He said some of the stores contained tailoring materials, oil, electrical items.
The fire also gutted a recording studio and assorted drinks store, and a residential accommodation.
“So, when we threw water, the fire was rather aggressive. So, we improvised again by using foam concentrate to suppress the fire” the Fire Officer said.
On February 20, this year, five rooms serving as bedrooms, and a few stores near the Central Market in Tamale were gutted by fire.
Last year, a total of 357 fire-related cases were recorded in the Northern Region resulting in 13 deaths.
They included 164 domestic fire cases, 24 vehicular fire cases, six institutional fire cases, 49 electrical fire cases, 48 commercial fire cases and 17 bush fires.
GNA