Fire! 8 Escape Death

EIGHT people including two children, narrowly escaped death when fire gutted a carpentry workshop and other structures near the Aviation Social Centre on Thursday night.

The workshop also served as the sleeping place of the family and four apprentices.

Personal belongings, household appliances, furniture and working tools all valued at about ¢150 million got destroyed. Also burnt was an amount of about ¢100 million.

An eye-witness account said the fire was noticed when the occupants were about to have supper. One of the apprentices was said to have seen smoke from the workshop and drew the attention of others and they quickly evacuated before the fire engulfed the premises.

The eye-witness said that it took almost an hour for Fire Service personnel to come to the scene by which time the workshop and nearby "chop bar" and a hairdresser's salon had been totally burnt.

Two fire tenders from the Makola and Trade Fair fire stations were involved in putting out the fire.

The leader of the squad from the Trade Fair, Twumasi Owusu, told the Times that the cause of the fire was not immediately known and said they would have to assess the situation later to determine the cause.

The owner of the workshop, 42-year-old Felix Dzamboe said after they managed to escape they tried to quench the fire but to no avail.

"I thank God that we all managed to come out, but right now I am confused and I do not know what I am going to do to bring back my business," he lamented.