Adum fire: Tenders at our closest station were broken down – GNFS PRO

Efforts to contain the Adum Market fire were hindered by the unavailability of functional fire tenders at the nearest Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) stations, according to the Service’s Public Relations Officer, Alex King Nartey.

The fire, which erupted in the early hours of Friday, March 21, rapidly spread through parts of the bustling market, causing panic among traders as they desperately tried to save their wares.

Speaking in an interview with Joy News, Nartey explained that fire stations closest to the scene, including the Komfo Anokye and Kumasi Metro stations, had no working fire engines at the time of the outbreak.

This severely delayed response efforts allowing the flames to spread before fire personnel could intervene.

The revelation has sparked concerns about resource constraints within the GNFS, with many questioning the state of fire preparedness in major commercial hubs.

“As we have always bemoaned the outdated nature of our fire tenders, the closest station that could have attended to the situation would have ideally been the Komfo Anokye or our Metro station but unfortunately, both fire tenders were out of commission and so we had to fall on our regional headquarters which is 20 minutes drive.

“Though it was 20 minutes away, our officers were able to get there in 10 minutes and we got to the scene around 06:15,” he stated.