Kumasi, May 23, GNA – The Royal foam factory at Asokore Mampong in the Asawase constituency was on Friday night gutted by fire destroying items worth several thousands of Ghana cedis.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known as at the time of filing this report but eyewitnesses suspected it might have started from a nearby production room at the factory and quickly spread to parts of the factory.
When GNA got to the scene at about 1700 hours, residents around the factory were seen splashing water to support personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service to put the fire off.
It took the firefighters and some residents hours before they managed to douse the blazing flames.
Mr Francis Darko-Kono, the Ashanti regional operating officer of GNFS, told the Ghana News Agency that the absence of fire hydrant within the premises of the factory, made it difficult to put off the fire promptly since they had to travel long distances to fetch water.
He said the production of foam materials was highly inflammable because it had a petrol-chemical base substance that easily caught fire, adding that the company did not put into consideration to install a hydrant.
Mr Darko-Kono, said his outfit was conducting investigations into the cause of fire outbreak.
GNA