Ashanti NADMO launches ‘Operation stop the fire disaster’ to curb rising market fires

The Ashanti Regional Directorate of the National Disaster Management Organisation has rolled out a new campaign aimed at reducing the alarming rate of fire outbreaks across the region.

The initiative, known as Operation Stop the Fire Disaster 2025 (#OSFiD), seeks to tackle the growing number of fires, particularly in shops and market centres within the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area and beyond.

Addressing the media in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional NADMO Director, Alhaji Mohammed Nasir Ibrahim, said the campaign had become necessary due to the increasing frequency of fires both in the region and nationwide. He cited a Ministry of the Interior report indicating that Ghana recorded an average of fifty fire incidents daily between the last quarter of 2024 and the first two months of 2025.

Following this worrying report, his office set up a task force in August to conduct routine inspections in selected markets and commercial shops. According to Alhaji Mohammed Nasir, the findings were troubling. Many large shops lacked basic fire safety installations such as smoke detectors, fire alarms, assembly points and adequate extinguishers. He stressed that the absence of these essentials exposes businesses to heightened risk.

The task force also assessed thirty of the one hundred and seventy five open markets in the Greater Kumasi area. The inspections revealed widespread use of substandard electrical wiring and poor installations that significantly increase fire risk.

Even more alarming, the team observed traders cooking inside markets with coal pots and gas cylinders, a practice described as extremely dangerous. He noted that, in collaboration with local assemblies and stakeholders, NADMO has begun sustained education and sensitisation campaigns to discourage cooking in market spaces.

He warned that traders who continue to cook in markets after the sensitisation period would face sanctions and other punitive measures.

Alhaji Mohammed Nasir Ibrahim called on shop owners, market management committees, fire safety institutions and the public to support the OSFiD campaign, stressing that fire prevention is a shared responsibility that requires collective effort.