Aburaso: Assembly member demands probe into recent fire outbreaks

The Assembly member for the Aburaso in the Ashanti Region, Emmanuel Nyanteng, wants the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to investigate recent fire outbreaks that have occurred in the area.

His request comes after a former Ashanti Regional Director of Audit Service was burnt to death after fire gutted his five-bedroom house in the community last Saturday.

The deceased, 74 has been identified as Stephen Dapaah.

Three other occupants of the house sustained injuries with one other person who lost consciousness were rushed to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for treatment.

Speaking to Citi News, the Assembly man said the latest incident brings to seven the number of fire outbreaks in the community, a situation he says is worrying.

“I just want to use this medium to appeal to authorities and those concerns. We have witnessed series of fire outbreaks in this particular area. So they should come to our aid and investigate the issue so we don’t record such incident again.”

The injured include the son of the deceased, his two grandchildren and his daughter-in-law.

Earlier in February, the Ashanti Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service said more fire incidents were being recorded in the region in the early part of 2022, as 260 cases were recorded in January alone.

Fire outbreaks have in recent times led to the destruction of properties worth millions of Ghana cedis, and also displaced many people.

The Ashanti Regional Fire Commander, ACFO 1 Henry Giwa, told Citi News the situation is not as alarming as they seem, since his outfit has intensified sensitization on fire-related issues.

Some residents of Kumasi have also appealed to the government to provide fire officers with the needed logistics to help them in fighting fires.

According to them, often times, fire officers complain of lack of adequate water hydrants during fire outbreaks.

—Citinewsroom